LONDON - Manchester United staged a remarkable comeback from 3-0 down inspired by two Wayne Rooney penalties to salvage a 3-3 draw at Chelsea in a thrilling Premier League match on Sunday.
An own goal by Jonny Evans, a scorching Juan Mata volley and David Luiz's header six minutes into the second half put Chelsea in complete control but Rooney twice held his nerve from the spot and substitute Javier Hernandez headed the equaliser seven minutes from time to earn the champions a point.
Manchester City lead the standings with 57 points, two ahead of United and eight clear of Tottenham Hotspur who travel to Liverpool on Monday. Chelsea stayed fourth on 43 points.
Earlier Newcastle United beat Aston Villa 2-1 to climb above Arsenal into fifth place, keeping the race for the title and European places tightly congested after 24 matches.
Chelsea and United have been major rivals for the big prizes over the last few seasons and the match lived up to expectations in a heart-stopping classic at Stamford Bridge.
"Of course it's two points lost but, after we were 3-0 down, all the Manchester City players at home watching the game won't enjoy the way we fought back," Rooney told Sky Sports. "They can see we've got spirit and we will be there with them until the end."
Chelsea, who had not lost at home in the league to United since 2002, took the lead against the run of play when Evans put through his own goal after 36 minutes following clever work by Daniel Sturridge and they doubled the lead with a contender for goal of the season from Mata 25 seconds into the second half.
Mata converted a cross from his Spanish compatriot Fernando Torres, who has now gone 18 matches without a goal, when he smashed in an unstoppable left-foot volley.
They went 3-0 up soon afterwards when Luiz's header went in off Rio Ferdinand, booed by the home fans every time he touched the ball.
Ferdinand's younger brother Anton, the Queens Park Rangers defender, was the target of the alleged racist insluts that have landed Chelsea skipper John Terry in court on racial charges, but some of the heat was taken out of the contest when Terry was declared unfit with a knee injury.
Chelsea were also without the injured Frank Lampard and suspended Ashley Cole, but coach Andre Villas-Boas handed a debut to defender Gary Cahill and gave a first start of the season to fit-again midfielder Michael Essien.
Villas-Boas, whose side have now drawn their last three league games, said United's second penalty was "very dubious".
"I don't think the referee was in the correct position to see it, I am not sure. I don't know if he was compensating for anything in the first half but it was the wrong decision, Welbeck's leg hit Ivanovic," Villas-Boas told reporters.
"The penalties gave them the impetus to get the draw."
But he failed to condemn the Chelsea fans for booing Ferdinand, saying it had no impact on the result and that home fans always boo opposition players.
"You don't expect opposition fans to praise the other team's players, you have to condemn it when there is discriminatory or aggressive behaviour. We know the situation."
Chelsea could still have won the game, United's under-fire young goalkeeper David De Gea making two oustanding saves in the dying minutes, the first from a Mata free kick and the second from Cahill.
The day's other match ended with substitute Papiss Demba Cisse scoring the winner for Newcastle against Villa on his debut following his move from Freiburg in Germany.
Demba Ba, back from the African Nations Cup with Senegal, continued where he left off before he went to Africa by scoring the opener, and Robbie Keane, on loan from Los Angeles Galaxy, scored his third goal for Villa to equalise just before halftime.
Manchester City comfortably beat Fulham 3-0 to move two points clear of Manchester United at the top of the Premier League table as snow engulfed northern England in freezing conditions on Saturday.
Arsenal stayed in contention for a top four finish by crushing Blackburn Rovers 7-1 at the Emirates where Robin Van Persie scored a hat-trick, while Wolverhampton Wanderers climbed out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win at Queens Park Rangers.
City's 17th successive home league win since Fulham drew 1-1 there almost a year ago, came after Sergio Aguero fired them ahead with a 10th minute penalty after a Chris Baird foul on Adam Johnson.
Baird's misery continued when he put through his own net 20 minutes later and City added a third from Edin Dzeko after 72 minutes to secure all three points as they produced the perfect response to their 1-0 defeat at Everton on Tuesday.
"The players were fantastic this evening, they played very well," City coach Roberto Mancini told ESPN. "It was not easy because Fulham are a very good team. It was very important after the defeat to react very quickly - it was important for the future."
Dzeko added: "It was very hard in this weather, and when it's like this, it's always better to score at the beginning of the game and then it's easier to play.
"It was difficult with the snow, especially in the second half."
There was no snow at the freezing Emirates in the lunchtime kickoff but Blackburn were left feeling the chill wind of relegation after being crushed 7-1 by a rampant Arsenal who moved up from seventh to fifth with their first League win of 2012.
Van Persie scored a hat-trick to take his season's tally in all competitions to 28 goals and move into 10th place on Arsenal's all-time scoring list with 123 goals.
Teenager Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored his first two Premier League goals while Mikel Arteta and talisman Thierry Henry - Arsenal's all-time record scorer - added the others as Arsenal chalked up their biggest win at the Emirates since moving there in 2006.
Henry, who has now scored 228 goals for the Gunners, scored his first League goal since he returned to the club on loan from New York Red Bulls last month. He completed the rout with virtually the last kick of the game after replacing Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 68 minute.
Blackburn, who had Gael Givet sent off for a foul on Van Persie just before halftime, sunk to 19th place, one off the bottom with the pressure increasing on manager Steve Kean.
None of the other afternoon matches had any direct bearing on the top of the table but Wigan Athletic and Wolves, who started the day in the bottom two places, both avoided defeat.
Wigan stayed bottom but drew 1-1 at home with Everton after a wildly bouncing ball spun off Everton's Phil Neville and past his goalkeeper Tim Howard for Wigan's goal.
Victor Anichebe, who had only been on the pitch for two minutes, equalised in the 83rd minute for the visitors.
Wolves came from behind to beat big-spending Queens Park Rangers 2-1 at Loftus Road.
Rangers who were busy in the January transfer window adding four new players, went ahead with a 16th minute debut goal from Bobby Zamora following his mid-week move from Fulham.
However Djibril Cisse, another new arrival who scored on his debut at Aston Villa on Wednesday, had a less pleasing home debut and was sent off in front of his new fans after 34 minutes for grabbing Wolves defender Roger Johnson round the throat.
Wolves came back to win with goals from Matt Jarvis and substitute Kevin Doyle and ended the day in 17th place, one place above the trapdoor.
In the other games Norwich City sent Bolton Wanderers back into the relegation zone after beating them 2-0 at Carrow Road, while Swansea City came from behind to win 2-1 at West Bromwich Albion. (Reuters)