Thierry Henry came on as a substitute on Saturday and scored in the 84th minute to earn Arsenal a 1-1 draw with Tottenham in the last game at Highbury between the north London rivals.
In the other key game on Saturday, Liverpool defeated Chelsea 2-1 in the semifinals of the FA Cup at Old Trafford. The loss will prevent Chelsea, who need only one more point to win the league, from claiming more than one trophy this season.
Liverpool, with goals from John Arne Riise and Luis Garcia, will face either West Ham or Middlesbrough in the final. They play on Sunday at Villa Park in Birmingham.
Henry was again the star for Arsenal.
This time he came on as a substitute — he was being rested for Tuesday’s deciding second-leg Champions League semifinal — and scored from 10m 22 minutes after entering play.
Robbie Keane put Tottenham ahead in the 66th minute and Tottenham finished with 10 men after Edgar Davids was sent off in the 86th for a second yellow card.
The draw leaves Tottenham in fourth place — four points ahead of Arsenal — as the two clubs fight for the last Champions League spot from England. Spurs have two games remaining and Arsenal three.
”I was in the dressing room and they were not celebrating … so that is a good sign,” Tottenham manager Martin Jol said. ”Hopefully we can win the next two matches and then we will be fourth. For me, I think we deserved something out of this game. Even an Arsenal fan would agree with me.”
Arsenal could also qualify by winning this season’s Champions League, which would oust Spurs from the competition irrespective of their league positions. The Gunners face Villarreal on Tuesday in the second-leg semifinals — they lead 1-0 — and hope to advance to their first final on May 17 in Paris.
In other Premier League games on Saturday: Bolton 4, Charlton 1; Everton 0, Birmingham 0; Newcastle 3, West Bromwich Albion 0; Portsmouth 2, Sunderland 1.
Chelsea lead the Premier League with 88 points and need one point from their last three games to clinch their second straight title. Manchester United are next with 79 followed by Liverpool (73). Tottenham have 62.
At the bottom, Sunderland are relegated with 12 points. West Brom are nearly down with 29, with Birmingham on 33 and Portsmouth on 35.
Tottenham dominated the first half, but Arsenal began to pressure in the second. Robin van Persie had scoring chances in the 56th and 60th minutes.
In the 62nd, Arsenal manager Arsenal Wenger sent on Henry and Cesc Fabregas, who was also being rested, but Keane got a controversial goal soon after.
Spurs’ captain chipped the ball into an open net after goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was pulled wide trying to defend a cross from Davids.
Wenger protested the goal, which came just seconds after midfielder Gilberto was knocked to the ground. Wenger stood chin-to-chin arguing with Jol, angry that Tottenham didn’t stop play by kicking the ball out of play to let Gilberto get treatment.
”I think it is a shame,” said Wenger, who blamed Michael Carrick for not stopping play. ”If they did not see that from the bench, even lie about it, I find that very disappointing.”
Tottenham are shooting for its best finish since 1990 and, even if they fail to make the Champions League, are all but assured of a place in the second-tier Uefa Cup.
Tottenham have two games remaining: at home against Bolton and away at West Ham. Arsenal, who move next season to a new 60 000-seat stadium, play away at Sunderland and Man City and close at home against Wigan.
Liverpool’s victory was only their second in 10 games over the past two seasons against Chelsea. The other was in last year’s Champions League semifinals, a competition Liverpool won.
Riise gave Liverpool a 1-0 lead in the 21st, a free kick that split Chelsea’s wall of defenders. Garcia made it 2-0 in the 53rd, taking a poorly headed ball from William Gallas and left-footing home a perfect shot from 20m.
Didier Drogba, this time taking advantage of a poor defensive header from Riise, headed the ball over goalkeeper Pepe Reina.
Kevin Davies scored twice Bolton’s 4-1 victory over Charlton, with the other goals coming from Ricardo Vaz Te and Jared Borgetti. Darren Bent scored a penalty for Charlton.
Shola Ameobi scored two — one a penalty — in Newcastle’s 3-0 win over West Brom. Nolberto Solano got the other.
Portsmouth moved two points out of relegation danger thanks to Matthew Taylor’s 88th-minute penalty winner against Sunderland.
Tommy Miller had put Sunderland ahead in the 70th with Svetoslav Todorov equalising three minutes later. — Sapa-AP