Champions Manchester United's [Images] grip on top spot in the Premier League was loosened further on Saturday when they lost 2-0 at Fulham and ended the match with nine men.

United, hammered 4-1 at home by title rivals Liverpool last week, went behind early to Danny Murphy's penalty after midfielder Paul Scholes had been sent off for handling a Bobby Zamora header on the line.

Zoltan Gera killed off a strong United backlash with a late second goal before Wayne Rooney [Images] was shown a red card after 88 minutes for hurling the ball towards referee Phil Dowd.

Second-placed Chelsea, who could close United's gap to one point with eight games to play compared with the leaders' nine, were in action at Tottenham Hotspur where the kickoff was delayed by 30 minutes because of a security scare.

Third-placed Liverpool, level on 61 points with Chelsea, are at home to Aston Villa on Sunday.

Portsmouth eased their relegation worries with a 2-1 win over Everton thanks to two Peter Crouch headers and Stoke City eased out of the bottom three with a 1-0 defeat of Middlesbrough. Bolton Wanders drew 1-1 at bottom club West Bromwich Albion and Blackburn Rovers drew 1-1 with West Ham United.