AP
Chelsea's Michael Ballack (left) celebrates with teammate Ricardo Carvalho after he scored his second goal against Manchester United during their Premier League match at Stamford Bridge yesterday. Chelsea won 2-1.

LONDON (AP):

MICHAEL BALLACK scored an 86th-minute penalty yesterday to give Chelsea a 2-1 win over Manchester United that leaves the teams tied on points at the top of the Premier League.

Ballack's second goal of the game, which came following a handball by Michael Carrick, lifted the Blues to 81 points - trailing United only on goal difference with two games remaining.

"We needed to win,'' Chelsea captain John Terry said. ''All season long we've had to put up with, 'Chelsea can't play as well as Manchester United and Arsenal', but we showed today we can play as well as anyone,'' he said.

Liverpool's slim chances of overhauling Arsenal to finish third were hit by a 2-2 draw at Birmingham, a result that also had ramifications at the other end of the standings.

Hopes still alive

Birmingham stayed in the three-team relegation zone and their failure to win boosted Fulham's faint chances of avoiding demotion. Fulham's hopes are still alive after they scored three goals in the last 20 minutes to rally from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Manchester City.

United were seeking to end Chelsea's four-year unbeaten streak at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League to go six points clear and effectively clinch a second straight title on the basis of their hugely superior goal difference.

But United manager Alex Ferguson rested leading scorer Cristiano Ronaldo to keep him fresh for Tuesday's Champions League semi-final against FC Barcelona and Chelsea dominated the first half.

Ballack put Chelsea ahead in the 45th with a diving header from Didier Drogba's cross, but Blues defender Ricardo Carvalho gave the ball away to Wayne Rooney with a short back pass in the 57th and the England striker raced clear to score.

Rooney then followed teammate Nemanja Vidic off the field injured and Chelsea won a penalty when Carrick charged down a cross by Michael Essien.

Referee Alan Wiley at first appeared to indicate it was not handball but his linesman said that it was, and Ballack calmly scored past goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

The teams are both seven points clear of third-place Arsenal, who are at Derby tomorrow.

Liverpool, who are at Chelsea in the other Champions League semi-final on Tuesday, are 11 points back after their draw at Birmingham. Mikael Forssell and Sebastian Larsson put Birmingham 2-0 ahead, but Peter Crouch and Yossi Benayoun scored for the visitors.

Fulham looked like they were going to be relegated yesterday when they trailed to goals from Stephen Ireland and Benjani Mwaruwari in the first 21 minutes, but Diomansy Kamara scored and Danny Murphy then levelled the scores from a rebound after his penalty was saved.

Kamara then scored in the last minute with a firm left-foot shot from 12 metres to complete an improbable comeback.

Threw caution to the wind

"I challenged them to at least not lose the second half, and they took me at my word,'' Fulham manager Roy Hodgson said. ''They won 3-0. They threw caution to the wind.''

Despite the win, Fulham remain deep in trouble on 30 points, two fewer than Birmingham. Reading are just a point further ahead after a 0-0 draw at Wigan, and Bolton stayed above Reading only on goal difference after a 1-1 draw at Tottenham.

Middlesbrough could still go down after they lost 3-2 at local rivals Sunderland, who are now certain to stay in the top division next season.

Stoke, Hull and West Brom are all still fighting for the two automatic promotion spots in the second-tier League Championship.

Hull scored late for a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace to go second and prevent leaders Stoke from clinching a place in the Premier League even though they won 1-0 at Colchester.