Chelsea go second as Arsenal drop points in Tottenham derby draw

(CNN) -- Tottenham fought back to clinch a 3-3 draw with Arsenal that further dented their north London rivals' English Premier League title hopes as another capital club, Chelsea, claimed second place on Wednesday.

Arsenal led 3-1 five minutes before halftime, but fifth-placed Tottenham rallied with a stunning strike from Tom Huddlestone and then a Rafael van der Vaart penalty after the break.

The result allowed defending champions Chelsea to go second on goal difference after a 3-1 victory at home to Birmingham, leaving Manchester United six points clear with five games to play after Tuesday's 0-0 draw with Newcastle.

Alex Ferguson's United are in pole position, but the May 1 trip to Arsenal and the home clash with Chelsea the following week will have a massive bearing on the title outcome.

Man United draw a blank at Newcastle

Chelsea also face an April 30 home clash with Tottenham, who can still qualify for next season's Champions League after moving to within two points of fourth-placed Manchester City -- a team Harry Redknapp's men will travel north to face on May 10.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has now seen his team draw five of the last six league matches, including Sunday's demoralizing 1-1 stalemate with Liverpool when both goals came in a lengthy period of stoppage time.

"It's not over -- we'll fight," the Frenchman told reporters. "In the second half we dropped physically because we had a difficult game on Sunday. We've had two games in three days, our recovery was a bit short.

"Maybe the second (Tottenham) goal was decisive because we wanted to get to halftime with a two-goal lead, but we had an outstanding spirit and we have to keep battling to the last day."

The Gunners looked like avenging November's 3-2 home defeat by Spurs when Theo Walcott ran clear to slot home from Cesc Fabregas' well-timed pass in just the fifth minute.

But Tottenham responded immediately as Van der Vaart controlled a pass from Vedran Corluka and fired a right-foot shot past goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who was beaten at his near post.

Arsenal suffer late, late Liverpool blow

Samir Nasri restored Arsenal's lead in the 12th minute with a right-foot effort from outside the area as he was given space to shoot, scoring his first league goal since New Year's Day and his 10th this season.

Robin van Persie made it 3-1 in the 40th minute with his 14th in the Premier League, as the Dutchman lashed home at the second attempt after Heurelho Gomes parried his header from Walcott's delightful chip.

But Huddlestone gave the home fans hope as he drilled in a sublime, low left-foot strike a minute before the break as Arsenal failed to clear a corner.

Spurs appealed in vain for a penalty when Luka Modric was shunted to the ground by Johan Djourou in time added on, while Van Persie had the ball in the net a second time in the 57th minute but the offside flag was up.

His compatriot Van der Vaart leveled the scores for the third time with 20 minutes to play with his 12th league goal since joining from Real Madrid in August after winger Aaron Lennon, who came on at halftime for Gareth Bale, was brought down by Szczesny.

The result left Spurs five points clear of sixth-placed Liverpool, having -- like City -- played one less game.

Chelsea clinched a second successive victory as France international Florent Malouda scored twice against visiting Birmingham.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti opted to leave $80 million signing Fernando Torres on the bench again along with Nicolas Anelka, as Didier Drogba started up front with Malouda and Salomon Kalou flanking him.

The combination paid off as early as the third minute as Drogba flicked on a cross from Paulo Ferreira and Malouda finished off at the far post.

Drogba's fellow Ivory Coast forward Kalou curled a superb effort in off the post to double the lead in the 26th minute, and winger Malouda made it 3-0 just after an hour with a header from a cross by debutant left-back Ryan Bertrand for his 12th league goal this season.

Birmingham, five points clear of the relegation zone, pulled a goal back in the 71st minute as Sebastian Larsson converted a penalty after Chelsea's Brazil defender David Luiz fouled substitute striker Matt Derbyshire.