A below-par Gunners were held to a 1-1 draw by Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium, which allowed Sir Alex Ferguson's side to move within striking distance of the leaders.

Hargreaves was presented with an opportunity to open the scoring for United in the 15th minute after Carlos Tevez was fouled on the edge of the area.

The former Bayern Munich midfielder took the free-kick and fooled goalkeeper Antti Niemi with a shot which curled around the wall before it dipped into the bottom-left corner to give him his first goal in a United shirt.

Park Ji-Sung added the second a minute before the break when he capped a fine team move to head home a Paul Scholes cross from close range.

Fulham midfielder Simon Davies put John O'Shea's cross through his own net in the 72nd minute to compound the misery for Roy Hodgson's side, who are now six points below safety.

Nicklas Bendtner struck with virtually the last kick of the game to rescue a point for Arsenal.

Philippe Senderos scored a 27th-minute own goal to give Villa a 1-0 lead over Arsene Wenger's side in a match in which the visitors outplayed their opponents, but Bendtner levelled in the fourth minute of injury-time.

Chelsea responded to their Carling Cup final defeat with a 4-0 victory over West Ham at Upton Park despite being reduced to 10 men.

Frank Lampard opened the scoring in the 17th minute from the penalty spot after Anton Ferdinand fouled Salomon Kalou inside the penalty area.

The Blues made it 2-0 three minutes later when Nicolas Anelka picked out Joe Cole on the left edge of the box and the midfielder drilled his low shot past goalkeeper Robert Green.

Michael Ballack added a third in the 22nd minute after he smashed home a spectacular half-volley from 18 yards following good work by Joe Cole down the left flank.

Lampard was sent off in the 36th minute for violent conduct but Avram Grant's side continued to dominate and Ashley Cole (64) completed the scoring with a neat close-range finish after Green had parried Joe Cole's initial shot.

A Mikael Forssell hat-trick helped boost Birmingham's chances of avoiding the drop as they recorded a 4-1 win over a lacklustre Tottenham side at St Andrews.

The Finland international opened the scoring in the seventh minute when he was able to direct a header from a James McFadden cross past Paul Robinson and into the bottom-left corner of the net.

Sebastian Larsson added a second in the 55th minute with a superb free-kick which he curled over the wall and into the bottom-left corner before Forssell capitalised on indecision in the visitors' defence to neatly strike home.

Forssell completed his hat-trick in the 81st minute with a low finish from inside the penalty area, handing Birmingham their biggest win of the season. Jermaine Jenas scored a late consolation for the visitors.

Kevin Keegan's search for a first win since he returned to Newcastle continued after his side suffered a 1-0 defeat to Blackburn at St James' Park after Matt Derbyshire struck in injury-time.

Reading ended their eight-game losing streak with a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough at the Riverside thanks to a James Harper goal in added time, while Sunderland were frustrated by Derby in a goalless draw at Pride Park.

And in the late game, Manchester City's dreadful home form continued as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Wigan.

Transfer deadline-day signing Benjani Mwaruwari wasted their two best chances, a lack of control allowing goalkeeper Chris Kirkland to block his first-half one-on-one before the forward fired Darius Vassell's left-wing cross wide from close range after the break.

In the day's late kick-off Steve Bruce's Wigan side boosted their survival hopes after a battling 0-0 draw with Manchester City at Eastlands.

The result sees the Latics move ahead of Sunderland into 14th place on goal difference while City remain outside the European places in eighth spot.