Arsenal rue missed opportunities

Premiership round-up:  Arsenal spurned two late chances in their battle for a Champions League place as they drew 0-0 at Newcastle.

Liverpool, not in action due to Champions League duty, are four points ahead of the Gunners who followed up their defeat to relegation strugglers West Ham with another disappointing result.

Arsene Wenger's side could lose out to Bolton for a Champions League spot.

Close-range efforts from Julio Baptista and Gilberto were blocked on the line, first by Steven Taylor and then by Nolberto Solano but a forward line led Emmanuel Adebayor and supplemented by Abou Diaby did not do enough.

Republic of Ireland international Damien Duff went close twice for Newcastle inside the final four minutes of the first half and defender Oguchi Onyewu forced a reaction save from Jens Lehmann.

Duff's international colleague Shay Given had earlier been forced off in the 25th minute, leaving deputy Steve Harper to take the gloves.

Harper was then called into action when neat interplay between Alexander Hleb and Emmanuel Eboue saw the latter's deflected cross the right flank force him into a swift readjustment.

Boltonand Evertonstayed unchanged in fifth and sixth after a 1-1 draw at the Reebok Stadium.

Everton's defence paid the price for a breakdown in communication when every defender except Joleon Lescott attempted to play Bolton offside from an Ivan Campo free-kick.

That left four Bolton attackers in the clear but Kevin Davies, who took the ball on his chest, needed no-one as he rifled the ball past Tim Howard.

Everton equalised when a lack of concentration in the Wanderers' backline allowed youngster James Vaughan to steal in, take possession and finish calmly.

Vaughan's injury curse hit once more, though, and he went off on a stretcher.

Relegation-threatened Watfordhad earlier given their their slim survival hopes a boost - and limbered up for next weekend's FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United - with a fine performance in their 4-2 win over Portsmouth.

It was a reversal of fortunes for both sides, with Watford claiming a first league win since February 10 and Pompey failing to capitalise on their weekend win over leaders United.

Matt Taylor added another stunning goal to his collection with a long-range curler before a foul on Tamas Priskin allowed Hameur Bouazza to equalise from the penalty spot to stop David James getting his hands on David Seaman's Premiership clean-sheet record for another week.

Gavin Mahon scored a thunderbolt to put Watford ahead before two classy second-half goals from Priskin and Bouazza putting the result beyond doubt, with the latter also going close to a hat-trick with an acrobatic effort late on. Arnold Mvuemba scored Portsmouth's second and his first of the season.

Stuart Pearce saw a lively performance from his Manchester Cityside result in a 3-1 win over Fulham, meaning City's relegation worries are all but over.

City's first came when the lively Joey Barton — who had already won a corner, from which Richard Dunne nearly scored — ghosted in behind the home defence before firing a first-time strike low past Antti Niemi.

Winger DaMarcus Beasley scored the second, powering the ball home from a tight angle after finding room at Antti Niemi's near post.

The Cottagers started to self-destruct on the hour mark when Emile Mpenza's pass found Darius Vassell after Liam Rosenior's untimely slip, allowing the former England man to finish coolly.

Chris Coleman's side hit back with 15 minutes remaining when American defender Carlos Bocanegra powered in a fierce close-range header but it was not enough to inspire a comeback.

Aston Villacame from behind to take a 1-1 draw at Wiganbut failed to make the most of their numerical advantage.

Emile Heskey, who scored his 100th career league goal at the weekend, broke the deadlock when he took advantage of a floored Thomas Sorensen to bury Lee McCulloch's header across goal.

Wigan's chances took a nosedive soon afterwards when Antonio Valencia was sent off following a foul on Dutch defender Wilfred Bouma.

Craig Gardner had the ball in the net for the hosts five minutes before the whistle but the referee had already blown and the strike was chalked off.

Five minutes after the restart and Villa were level, Patrick Berger placing a low cross into the six-yard box where Gabriel Agbonlahor slipped between two defenders to deflect the ball just over the line.  PA