London  - Chelsea edged ahead of Aston Villa into third place after they won the battle of the Champions League contenders 1-0 at Villa Park on Saturday.

In Guus Hiddink's first match as Chelsea manager, Nicolas Anelka's first-half goal proved to be enough to give the visitors all three points.

The result lifted Chelsea one point above Villa into third, albeit still seven points behind leaders Manchester United, who play Blackburn Rovers later on Saturday.

Arsenal's quest for a top-four spot suffered another blow as they were held 0-0 at home by Sunderland, while Bolton Wanderers were the day's other winners.

Anelka put Chelsea ahead after 18 minutes, lifting the ball over Brad Friedel in the Villa goal after a good run by Frank Lampard.

Ashley Young hit the bar with a free-kick for Villa, while Gabriel Agbonlahor forced a smart save from Petr Cech and at the other end, Freidel saved well late on from Julian Belletti.

In the end, though, Chelsea hung on to keep alive their outside hopes of the title, much to the delight of Hiddink.

"It's a very good start in new circumstances and a new situation," the Dutchman said.

"What pleased me most was the first half, we played very good football, had good possession and were dangerous.

"The only thing we didn't do was score a second to kill the game."

"It is important - if you see Villa's home record, it's good we could break that."

Andrey Arshavin made his first start for Arsenal but though the Russian showed some nice touches, he could not help his side to victory in another frustrating day for manager Arsene Wenger.

Robin van Persie missed a good early chance, while Nicklas Bendtner headed wide. Carlos Vela dragged a good opportunity wide late on and Van Persie forced a good save from Martin Fulop in injury time.

The result was Arsenal's third goalless draw in succession and they are now six points behind fourth-placed Villa.

Stoke City and Portsmouth drew 2-2 in an exciting finish, with an own goal in injury time giving the visitors a share of the points.

Nico Kranjcar put Portsmouth ahead on 74 minutes but a huge stroke of luck helped the home side score twice in quick succession.

First Glen Johnson was controversially adjudged to have handled the ball in the area, with James Beattie converting the penalty, and then the former Southampton and Blackburn striker, seemingly in an off-side position, put Stoke ahead from close range.

Stoke thought they had won it, but an own goal in injury time from the outstretched foot of Ryan Shawcross sealed the draw for the visitors.

At Bolton, Matthew Taylor and Kevin Davies put the home side 2-0 up within 10 minutes. West Ham dominated the second half but though Scott Parker pulled one back with
20 minutes to go, Wanderers hung on for three more points.

Middlesbrough remain in the bottom three after they could only draw 0-0 at home to Wigan Athletic.

Second-placed Liverpool are not in action until Sunday, when they play Manchester City. (dpa)