London: Chelsea kept their Premier League title hopes alive with a 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough on Sunday but their performance would have caused few alarms for leaders Manchester United.

Ricardo Carvalho’s well-placed header inside the opening six minutes at Stamford Bridge proved sufficient for Avram Grant’s side.

Liverpool later completed a quartet of weekend wins for the top four with a 1-0 defeat of Everton at Anfield. The result tightened their grip on fourth place, which is worth a slot in the Champions League qualifiers.

Spaniard Fernando Torres scored his 21st league goal of the season to defeat a subdued Everton side, who now look destined for a Uefa Cup place.

Arsenal, who beat Bolton Wanderers 3-2 on Saturday, have 70 points, with Liverpool back on 62 and Everton on 57.

Carvalho’s powerful header from Wayne Bridge’s free-kick suggested an easy afternoon for Chelsea but Didier Drogba, Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips all wasted good chances to put the result beyond doubt.

In Spain, Barcelona surrendered a two-goal lead to slump to a shock 2-3 defeat at Real Betis on Saturday that dealt a serious blow to their title ambitions.