Vieira hurt after reviving Arsenal
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Vieira missed last season's title run-in because of an injury to the knee
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LONDON, England -- Patrick Vieira scored the equalizer as Arsenal came from behind to win 2-1at third-placed Chelsea and stretched their English Premier League lead to seven points as champions Manchester United were held 1-1 at home by Leeds.
But the Frenchman finished the game with a damaged knee and could miss the Champions League game against Celta Vigo on Tuesday.
Vieira and Edu scored for Arsenal after Eidur Gudjohnsen put Chelsea ahead after 27 seconds.
Alan Smith earned a vital point for relegation-threatened Leeds at Old Trafford, canceling out Paul Scholes' opener for United.
Arsenal's win pushes them to 64 points, seven clear of United and a further two ahead of Chelsea.
A year ago Arsenal held a five point lead before losing out to United and Gunners coach Arsene Wenger refused to be drawn on whether his side were now title favorites.
"It's still a really long way. You never know what's going to happen from now until the end of the season," said the Frenchman.
"The lead is not big enough to say that it's over. It's far from over. There's still a long way to go."
But Chelsea coach Claudio Ranieri admitted that his side were probably out of the title race.
"Yes. At this moment yes," said the Italian. "Both the teams played well and created chances. Arsenal took the chances; Chelsea, no."
Arsenal made a terrible start at Stamford Bridge when French midfielder Vieira gave the ball away in midfield from the kickoff, allowing Geremi to cross the ball into the box where Adrian Mutu set up Gudjohnsen to finish from close range.
But Wenger's side hit back soon afterwards with two goals in six minutes.
Vieira exchanged passes with Dennis Bergkamp to equalize on 15 minutes and Brazilian Edu was gifted a tap-in on 21 minutes when Chelsea keeper Neil Sullivan failed to collect Thierry Henry's corner.
Viera was caught by a late challenge from John Terry after 67 minutes and Wenger said: " He has ice on the knee.
"It's his bad knee so we will see how he is in the morning." Vieira missed last season's title run-in because of an injury to the same knee.
Chelsea's frustrating afternoon continued after the interval when Gudjohnsen was dismissed after collecting his second yellow card for tripping Gael Clichy.
Leeds withstood a first half siege against United at Old Trafford, but the home side finally breached their defenses on 64 minutes when Scholes pounced on a fumble by Leeds teenage keeper Scott Carson -- making his first Premier League start -- following a shot by Gary Neville.
But the Yorkshire side hit back just three minutes later when Smith directed a header beyond Tim Howard in the United goal.
Leeds continued to ride their luck, with United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy guilty of a glaring miss from close range with just two minutes left.
"Seven points is a lot but it is not insurmountable," said United coach Alex Ferguson.
"We will have to perform far better than we did today if we are going to catch them because we have put ourselves in a really difficult position."
In other matches, Charlton maintained their bid for a Champions League place with a thrilling 3-2 win over Blackburn. Goalkeeper Brad Friedel scored a late equalizer for the visitors, only to then concede an even later winner to Claus Jensen.
Wolves relegated Leeds to last place as they picked up their fifth league win of the season, 2-1 against Fulham. Alan Shearer's late penalty clinched a 2-1 win for Newcastle over north-east rivals Middlesbrough, Manchester City won 3-1 at Bolton and Southampton and Everton drew 3-3.
