Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney both saw red at Craven Cottage as United left the door open for Liverpool and Chelsea to close the gap at the top.

United had barely got into their stride when Scholes saw red for the eighth time in his career, raising both hands to block Bobby Zamora's header from a corner.

Danny Murphy despatched the penalty and the Cottagers kept United on the back foot for the rest of the half as Zamora went close with two more chances.

United piled on the pressure in the second half but could not find a way past the inspired Mark Schwarzer, and Zoltan Gera finished them off with an acrobatic effort in the 87th minute.

Rooney's frustration then boiled over as he collected a needless red card, earning a second booking for throwing the ball away before storming down the tunnel.

Earlier in the day, Portsmouth pulled themselves clear of immediate danger as two goals from Peter Crouch saw them come from behind to beat Everton 2-1.

Leighton Baines curled an early free-kick in off the post, but Crouch equalised in the 22nd minute and then nodded home the winner when left unmarked from a corner 16 minutes from time.

Portsmouth's win raised the stakes for Blackburn at home to West Ham but they could only manage a 1-1 draw despite dominating the second half.

There was a strong suspicion of offside as Mark Noble put West Ham in front in the 36th minute, but there was no argument about the finish as the midfielder curled a shot into the far corner with the outside of his boot.

Blackburn's anger was all the more pronounced as El-Hadji Diouf had a goal ruled out for offside moments earlier.

Sam Allardyce brought Keith Andrews off the bench at half-time and it paid off as the midfielder equalised six minutes after the restart.

Diouf then had another effort ruled out for offside as he followed up Christopher Samba's shot, and the Hammers held on for a point.

A Rory Delap special gave Stoke a 1-0 victory in the critical relegation battle against fellow strugglers Middlesbrough.

A scrappy affair looked to be heading for stalemate until Delap's long throw was flicked into the far corner of the net by Ryan Shawcross in the 84th minute.

The other battle at the bottom ended in a 1-1 draw with West Brom and Bolton sharing the points.

Scott Carson was given plenty to do by Bolton in the first half but it was West Brom who had the ball in the net, only to see Marc-Antoine Fortune's effort ruled out for offside.

West Brom were dealt a blow in the 67th minute when Matt Taylor ran on to a loose ball to volley home from the edge of the area.

However, Danny Shittu gifted West Brom a way back into the game in the 82nd minute as he deflected Robert Koren's wayward shot into the net.

Chelsea failed to take advantage of United's loss as they went down 1-0 to Tottenham at White Hart Lane in a game delayed for 30 minutes because of a suspicious package near the ground.

Even when kick-off finally came, Chelsea never seemed to get going and they fell to Luka Modric's 50th-minute strike as the Croatian rifled home from the edge of the area after Aaron Lennon pulled the ball back.

Chelsea huffed and puffed in the final stages but could not find a goal and the initiative now passes to Liverpool in the race to catch United.