It was a far from convincing performance from Jose Mourinho's side.

But neither Manchester United, beaten 4-3 at Blackburn, nor Liverpool, who were held to a 1-1 draw by ten-man Birmingham, proved capable of taking advantage of the champions' slip-up.

Chelsea never found top gear but Arjen Robben's fifth goal of the season, drilled in after Joe Cole had chested down a William Gallas cross, looked to have earned them victory before Luke Moore snatched a point for Villa with a scrambled late equaliser.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho launched an incredible post-match attack on referee Rob Styles.

"Somebody has to teach the referee that there is no law for compensation in football and if he has made a mistake in the first-half he should not make a lot of other mistakes in the second-half," he said after both sides had strong penalty claims turned down.

Former Arsenal winger David Bentley celebrated his permanent move to Blackburn with a hattrick as Mark Hughes's side held off a United fightback in a seven-goal thriller at Ewood Park.

Bentley put Blackburn ahead by snaffling up a rebound from Morten Gamst Pedersen's free-kick, only for Louis Saha to equalise inside two minutes.

Blackburn got back in front after a mix-up between Rio Ferdinand and United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar presented Bentley with the easiest of opportunities to claim his second goal of the evening.

Lucas Neill's penalty in first-half stoppage time, after a handball by Wes Brown, and Bentley's third of the night, 11 minutes after the restart, added to Blackburn's advantage.

Ruud van Nistelrooy came off the bench to claim two trademark poacher's strikes and put United back in the game but Sir Alex Ferguson's men were unable to get the equaliser they strived for.

The match finished acrimoniously with Ferdinand sent off after a reckless tackle that ended Robbie Savage's involvement in the game.

An angry Ferguson was also unhappy with the refereeing.

"Rio says he hasn't touched him (Savage), so I'll just have to see the video," Ferguson said.

But Blackburn manager Mark Hughes, the former Wales striker who played under Ferguson at United, said: "It looked a poor challenge. Robbie has a badly gashed shin and is shaken up."

Birmingham's prospects at Anfield were not helped by the straight red card midfielder Damien Johnson received for a wild lunge at Daniel Agger mid-way through the first half.

But after Steven Gerrard had put the Reds ahead in the 62nd-minute, Steve Bruce's side claimed an unlikely point thanks to a Xabi Alonso own goal within two minutes of the end.

Arsenal's domestic troubles intensified with a 3-2 home defeat by London rivals West Ham.

Nigel Reo Coker and Bobby Zamora both took advantage of errors by Sol Campbell to put the Hammers two-up completely against the run of play.

Campbell was also at fault on the Hammers' second, failing to close down Bobby Zamora before the striker curled a shot round Lehmann.

Arsenal pulled one back just before half-time, Thierry Henry getting the faintest of contacts on a Robert Pires shot.

But the Gunners were left shell-shocked when Matthew Etherington claimed a third for the visitors with just over ten minutes left, ensuring that a late Pires effort for Arsenal had no impact on the outcome.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger feared for Campbell's mental health after the England centre-half stormed out of the ground after being substituted.

"I took him off because he was in a mental shape, I felt, too much down to come back," Wenger said after the defeat, with his star defender nowhere in sight.

He said the 31-year-old had charged off without permission and was too depressed to continue playing.

Manchester City piled fresh pressure on to embattled Newcastle manager Graeme Souness with a convincing 3-0 win at the City of Manchester stadium.

City boss Stuart Pearce included want-away Joey Barton in his starting line-up and the midfielder was given a predictably hostile reception from the fans.

But that did not prevent him from creating City's opening goal with a cross for on-loan Spaniard Albert Riera, who volleyed superbly into the corner of the net.

An Andy Cole header and a Darius Vassell strike mid-way through the second half completed a miserable night for the Newcastle players, who were roundly abused by their own travelling fans.

Struggling Portsmouth claimed a point at home to Bolton, for whom Khalilou Fadiga squandered a first-half penalty.

The Senegalese midfielder made amends after the break with a long-range free-kick that evaded Dean Kiely but Portsmouth deserved the equaliser claimed by substitute Azar Karadas five minutes from the end.