The prize in United's embrace

The blue flag, at half-mast as Goodison Park mourned Alan Ball, was briefly flying high on Merseyside and in west London, only to be lowered again as Manchester United moved closer to regaining the Premiership title on a dramatic afternoon. Two-nil down to Everton early in the second half, Sir Alex Ferguson's side staged a characteristically positive recovery, scoring four times in the last half an hour to win 4-2, while Kevin Davies' equaliser for Bolton cost Chelsea crucial points in a 2-2 draw. United, with a goal difference superior to Chelsea's by 16, now need four points at most from their three remaining games. The title will be theirs if they win at Manchester City on Saturday and the London side fail to beat Arsenal the following day. That would render the meeting of the two contenders at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday week irrelevant. With a view to this week's Champions' League semi-finals, both teams initially left out their outstanding player this season - Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba respectively - but had to call on them later, with different results. Alan Ball would have been proud of the way Everton started the game, but they finished it well beaten. "It's a brilliant day for us," said Ferguson. "We can't count our chickens but we have a marvellous chance with three games to go." Jose Mourinho conceded that Chelsea had "almost" lost their title. "It is almost lost, almost. In football, almost is always a big question. It's not over. Mathematically, there is a chance and when the chance is there, we have to believe." Meanwhile at the bottom of the table, West Ham moved level on points with Wigan by defeating them 3-0 while Charlton were beaten 4-1 at Blackburn.

TWISTS AND TURNS: HOW THE CLOCK RAN DOWN IN THE GREAT TITLE RACE

12:51

Joleon Lescott hits the bar after two minutes in nervy start for Manchester United

13:00

United go 1-0 down at Goodison as Alan Stubbs' free-kick is deflected in

13:06

Chelsea also fall behind as Bolton's Lubomir Michalik bundles the ball home

13:09

Chelsea back on level terms when Salomon Kalou heads home Wayne Bridge's cross

13:16

Ricardo Carvalho goes off injured but Frank Lampard comes on for Chelsea

13:21

Kalou's header hits Jussi Jaaskelainen and goes in to put Chelsea 2-1 ahead

13:57

Bolton's Kevin Davies heads in a free-kick and Chelsea are pegged back to 2-2

13:58

United 2-0 down as Manuel Fernandes hits a great strike past Edwin van der Sar

14:09

United lifeline: goalkeeper Iain Turner fumbles and John O'Shea pokes ball in

14:16

United level at 2-2 as former Old Trafford stalwart Phil Neville scores an own goal

14:26

Former Goodison hero Wayne Rooney slots past Turner to put United 3-2 up

14:38

Full-time at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea have drawn 2-2 - their title grip is slipping

14:41

Lovely Rooney through-ball finds substitute Chris Eagles who puts United 4-2 up

14:43

Full-time at Goodison and United have one hand on the Premiership trophy

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