An horrific injury to Arsenal youngster Aaron Ramsey overshadowed a last-gasp 3-1 win over Stoke which hauled the Gunners' firmly into the Premier League title race.

GettyImagesAaron Ramsey is carried off the pitch at Stoke after breaking his leg

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Ramsey appeared to suffer a broken leg after a challenge from Ryan Shawcross - who was sent off - which had unfortunate echoes of team-mate Eduardo's own bad injury just over two years ago.

Stoke had led early on after a Danny Pugh goal but Nicklas Bendtner levelled before Cesc Fabregas struck a last-minute penalty and Thomas Vermaelen added another in injury time.

Manchester City had earlier blown the title race wide open by hammering nine-man Chelsea 4-2 at Stamford Bridge.

While the media attention had been focused on Wayne Bridge and his first meeting with John Terry since news of the former England captain's alleged affair with Vanessa Perroncel (the mother of Bridge's son) emerged, many had predicted an explosive encounter.

Bridge refused to shake Terry's hand before the game, but the action on the pitch soon dominated. Frank Lampard put the hosts in front just before the break, but the Blues were undone as goalkeeper Henrique Hilario gifted City goals either side of the interval, failing to keep out shots from Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy.

Chelsea imploded as Juliano Belletti was red carded for a foul on Gareth Barry that allowed Tevez to fire home a third from the penalty spot and Michael Ballack was also sent off for two yellow cards before Bellamy added the fourth. Lampard got his second of the day from a stoppage time penalty, but Chelsea's lead over second placed Manchester United remains just one precarious point.

Portsmouth overcame the pain of administration with a morale boosting 2-1 win against second to bottom Burnley.

Pompey provided a bright start as Danny Webber was denied a goal by an offside flag, but the striker's dragged 25th-minute shot set up Frederic Piquionne to tap home the opener at the far post. Burnley hit back just six minutes later though when Martin Paterson brilliantly lobbed David James from 16 yards.

Pompey had a chance to seal all three points as Piquionne was brought down in the box by Clark Carlisle, but Jamie O'Hara's weak penalty was easily saved by Brian Jensen. However, they didn't have to wait long for a second opportunity as Carlisle was again the offender, bringing down Utaka. Hassan Yebda assumed responsibility and tucked his spot-kick home to give the crisis club a welcome boost.

Even Ricardo Rocha's second red card in consecutive games for his new side - for a block on Jack Cork - couldn't dampen the celebrations.

Bolton moved out of the relegation zone and above Wolves as they beat Mick McCarthy's men 1-0 at the Reebok. Zat Knight's close-range finish just before the break put Bolton in front and Kevin Davies wasted a great chance to extend the lead in the second half.

Wolves came within inches of drawing level after David Jones sent a fine free-kick beyond Jussi Jaaskelainen only to see his effort hit the post and come back out, but Bolton hung on to claim a vital three points.

Birmingham edged past Wigan as the Blues moved up to eighth in the table with a 1-0 win at St Andrew's.

Birmingham had the best of the opening exchanges as Scott Dann's header hit the bar and then Chris Kirkland saved at point-blank range from James McFadden, but McFadden soon got on the scoresheet as Mario Melchiot was harshly penalised for a challenge on Keith Fahey and the striker buried the spot-kick.

In a rare moment of danger for the home side, Joe Hart did well to block Hugo Rodallega's close range effort after James McCarthy set him up, but it was a relatively comfortable afternoon for Alex McLeish's men.