First-place Chelsea beat Aston Villa 1-0 Sunday on a 30th-minute goal by Damien Duff and kept its five-point lead in the Premier League.

Defending champion Arsenal, in second place, defeated Fulham 2-0. Third-place Everton edged Manchester City 2-1 and fourth-place Manchester United beat Bolton 2-0.

Duff cut inside a defender on the right side and scored on goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen to lead Chelsea, which recorded its 12th shutout and won for the 14th time in 19 games. Halfway through the season, Chelsea has 46 points and Arsenal 41.

"We are enjoying it at the top," Chelsea defender John Terry said. "The lads are confident, the team spirit is fantastic."

English soccer is ignoring the European midwinter break favored by most prominent leagues, and this was the first of four rounds of games between now and Jan. 3.

Thierry Henry gave Arsenal the lead in the 12th minute with a low shot into the far corner for his 20th goal of the season. Robert Pires added the insurance goal on a free kick with 19 minutes left.

"What is important for us is to focus on ourselves and our quality and we don't have to worry about anybody else," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "It is too far away from the end of the season to speculate on a slip by Chelsea."

Everton has 40 points, followed by Manchester United (37), Middlesbrough (32) and Liverpool (31).

In other results, it was: Birmingham 2, Middlesbrough 0; Liverpool 5, West Bromwich Albion 0; Blackburn 2, Newcastle 2; Portsmouth 1, Crystal Palace 0; Tottenham 2, Norwich 0; and Southampton 0; Charlton 0.

In Scotland, first-place Celtic won 2-0 at Hearts, with Stilian Petrov scoring one goal and setting up the other. Celtic has 50 points, with rival Rangers next at 46 and to play Monday. 

(Agencies)