LONDON, 6 March 2005 — Manchester United dropped two precious points in a 0-0 draw at 10-man Crystal Palace yesterday, giving Premier League leaders Chelsea the chance to go eight points clear if they beat Norwich City later.

Champions Arsenal kept their slim title hopes alive after a Thierry Henry hat trick gave them a 3-0 home victory over Portsmouth, though they remain seven points adrift of the leaders having played two games more.

Chelsea have 68 points from 27 games, with United on 63 from 29 games and Arsenal third on 61, also from 29.

Southampton improved their survival hopes with a 1-0 home win over Tottenham Hotspur while Aston Villa and Newcastle also enjoyed morale-boosting victories.

Consequently United, who were seeking a seventh successive league win, rested Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Scholes at the start and they were fuming after Roy Keane was denied in the first half by an offside flag against struggling Palace.

The visitors’ frustration increased when Palace’s Hungarian goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly saved superbly from Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Palace’s task was made all the harder when the 64th-minute dismissal of Greek midfielder Vassilis Lakis left them to play the last half-hour with 10 men but they held out thanks to a combination of determination, luck and poor United finishing.

At Highbury Portsmouth’s Nigerian forward Yakubu Aiyegbeni headed against the bar before France striker Henry settled a youthful Arsenal team’s nerves after 39 minutes with his 20th league goal of the season.

He made it 2-0 eight minutes into the second half and completed his hat trick with a trademark free kick that went in via the goalkeeper five minutes from the end.

Wenger, though, has more defensive problems for Wednesday’s game against Bayern. He said central defender Pascal Cygan was unlikely to be fit after picking up a thigh injury yesterday. Wenger is already without inspirational center back Sol Campbell due to injury.

Liverpool stay eight points adrift of their neighbors in fifth spot after losing 1-0 to a spectacular Laurent Robert free kick at Newcastle. Sixth-placed Middlesbrough, with 42 points, went down 2-0 at Aston Villa.

Nigel Quashie’s second-half header gave third-from-bottom Southampton the points against Spurs and they are two points behind fourth-bottom Palace. Charlton Athletic drew 0-0 at London rivals Fulham.

Leaders Rangers Held by Inverness at Ibrox

In Glasgow, Rangers suffered a hiccup at the top of the Scottish Premier League after losing a late goal in a 1-1 draw at home to Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Barry Ferguson scored his first goal since returning from Blackburn Rovers when he struck after 57 minutes but Inverness leveled in stoppage time through ex-Celtic player Brian Prunty.

Celtic visit third-placed Hibernian on Sunday while Aberdeen, in fourth, won 1-0 at Kilmarnock with a Kevin McNaughton goal after Kris Boyd missed a penalty for the home side.

Bottom club Livingston secured three precious points with a goal from Burton O’Brien that beat Dundee 1-0 at Dens Park, while Motherwell defeated visitors Dundee United with goals from David Partrdige and Scott McDonald. Dunfermline drew 1-1 at home to Hearts after Scott Wilson headed the home side ahead before the visitors pulled level with a Paul Hartley penalty.

Bayern Beat Rivals Werder, Makaay Injured

In Frankfurt, Michael Ballack struck early to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 win at home to Werder Bremen yesterday and keep the Bavarians top of the Bundesliga on goal difference.

Bayern’s joy at beating last season’s double winners and one of their two chief rivals for the title was tempered by an injury to Roy Makaay, however.

The Dutch striker suffered a painful hamstring strain with a minute to go and will be a major doubt for Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Arsenal on Wednesday, when Bayern will be defending a 3-1 lead.

Bayern moved ahead against Werder in the seventh minute when Ballack beat four Werder defenders in the air to power in a header from a Torsten Frings corner in the seventh minute.

Felix Magath’s side maintained their lead with little difficulty against a curiously subdued Werder, who are now seven points off the title pace.

Bayern needed the win to stay ahead of Schalke 04, who kept up the pressure with a 2-0 win away to VfL Bochum.

With 24 games played, Bayern and Schalke have 50 points, followed by Werder on 43.

VfB Stuttgart moved up to fourth on 42 points with a 2-1 win at home to Arminia Bielefeld.

Bayer Leverkusen’s faint hopes of getting back into the title race slipped further away when they were beaten 1-0 away by Hamburg SV, a result that leaves them in seventh place, now 11 points behind the leaders. Baydrn stayed neck and neck with Schalke thanks to Ballack’s early goal and a solid defensive performance.

There was none of the panache of their midweek 7-0 win over SC Freiburg, although the introduction of Paolo Guerrero early in the second half gave their attack a more dangerous look. Guerrero almost added a second in the 61st minute when he showed brilliant control to bring a ball down in the area and lashed in a shot that Andreas Reinke did well to keep out.

Werder striker Nelson Vahdez managed to round Oliver Kahn in the 73rd minute but he was unable to get in a clear shot from a wide angle.

Kahn had nothing else to do before holding a sweetly struck shot from Daniel Jensen in the final minute.