( CNN ) -- Chelsea crushed Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa 7-1 on Saturday to keep the pressure on English Premier League leaders Manchester United ahead of next weekend 's showdown between the two top teams . The London club briefly returned to the top of the table before champions United won 4-0 at Bolton in the late match to restore their one-point advantage . With the title race set to go to the wire , Chelsea will take a two-goal for-and-against differential over United to Old Trafford on Saturday after thrashing Villa at home to follow up the midweek 5-0 romp at Portsmouth . Frank Lampard fired four goals , two of them from the penalty spot , to become Chelsea 's third-highest scorer on the club 's all-time list with 151 . Norway striker John Carew canceled out Lampard 's 15th-minute opener for his ninth goal in eight games , but Chelsea led 2-1 at halftime with the England midfielder 's first spot-kick just before the break . France winger Florent Malouda , who set up the opener , scored the first of his two goals 12 minutes after the interval to open the floodgates , with four more coming in the final half-hour as Lampard took his season tally to 21 in all competitions . The result was even more remarkable given that Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti opted to rest 30-goal striker Didier Drogba , while John Terry broke the club record with his 325th outing as captain . It ended Villa 's 10-match unbeaten run , leaving the visitors seven points adrift of Tottenham in the battle for the fourth Champions League place . Manchester United , by comparison , cruised past a struggling Bolton team thanks to a fortunate own-goal from JLloyd Samuel and a second-half double from Dimitar Berbatov . United 's top scorer Wayne Rooney and England captain Rio Ferdinand were rested due to minor injuries ahead of Tuesday 's Champions League quarterfinal against Bayern Munich . Defender Samuel inexplicably slotted Ryan Giggs ' low cross past his goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen in the 38th minute as United profited from a record 11th own-goal this season -- the club 's second highest scorer . Veteran keeper Edwin van Der Sar preserved the lead with a flying save from Fabrice Muamba , but the Dutchman was lucky to avoid an embarrassing moment when the home side took a quick corner while he was well out of his goal arguing with the referee . Berbatov , playing on his own up front , made it 2-0 in the 68th minute when he was first to react after Jaaskelainen could only parry Darren Fletcher 's shot , then the Bulgarian sealed victory 10 minutes later with a slick finish from Nani 's low cross . Portugal winger Nani , who signed a new contract during the week , then set up young substitute midfielder Darren Gibson on 82 . Third-placed Arsenal 's title hopes were dented after conceding a late equalizer at Birmingham . France midfielder Samir Nasri put the Londoners ahead with a low drive in the 81st minute , but veteran substitute Kevin Phillips netted a fortunate leveler in injury-time as Bacary Sagna 's attempted clearance hit him and rebounded into the net past goalkeeper Manuel Almunia . The draw left Arsenal four points behind United with six matches to play ahead of Wednesday 's Champions League quarterfinal against holders Barcelona , while ninth-placed Birmingham are unbeaten at home since last September . Tottenham consolidated fourth place with a 2-0 victory at bottom side Portsmouth as England striker Peter Crouch and Croatia midfielder Niko Kranjcar scored in the first half against their former club . Portsmouth suffered injuries to defender Hermann Hreidarsson , striker Danny Webber and veteran goalkeeper David James ahead of next month 's FA Cup semifinal between the two teams . Fifth-placed Manchester City will seek to close the deficit on Spurs to two points again with victory at home to Wigan on Monday , while Liverpool will look to keep their slim top-four hopes alive with a win over Sunderland on Sunday . Everton remained in eighth place with a 0-0 draw at Wolverhampton , who are now five points clear of the relegation zone . Stoke moved up to 10th with a 1-0 win at West Ham , who were left hovering above the drop zone on goal difference . Hull joined West Ham on 27 points with a 2-0 victory against Fulham , who dropped to 11th .
Chelsea crush Aston Villa 7 - 1 to stay a point behind English champions Manchester United . Frank Lampard nets four goals to become Chelsea 's third - highest all - time scorer . United beat Bolton 4 - 0 as Dimitar Berbatov scores twice in place of Wayne Rooney . Third - placed Arsenal 's title hopes end after missing a late penalty at Birmingham .