LONDON, England (AFP) — Tottenham Hotspur breathed fresh life into the English Premier League title race with a 2-1 win over leaders Chelsea on a dramatic day of top-flight action in England yesterday.

Spurs’s win, secured by goals from Jermain Defoe and Gareth Bale, cut double-chasers Chelsea’s lead over champions Manchester United to just a point with three games left to play.

And to make matters worse for visitors Chelsea, they finished the match against their London rivals down to 10 men after captain John Terry was sent-off for two bookable offences at White Hart Lane.

But defiant Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti told ESPN: “The title is still in our hands, we don’t have to be afraid, we just have to look to the next game against Stoke.

“We didn’t do so good but Tottenham played very well,” the Italian added.

Tottenham’s victory meant Harry Redknapp’s side, who last weekend lost an FA Cup semi-final to Portsmouth before bouncing back in Wednesday’s north London derby against Arsenal, moved into fourth place.

That left them two points clear of Manchester City in the race for the final Champions League spot on offer to English clubs.

Defoe put Spurs ahead from the penalty spot in the 15th minute after England defender Terry handled in the box and Bale, on target in the 2-1 win over Arsenal, doubled the lead a minute before half-time when he beat Petr Cech at the goalkeeper’s near post.

Terry, already booked for a foul on Roman Pavlyuchenko, was sent off for a second yellow card offence by referee Phil Dowd after he went to ground and brought down Wales international Bale in the 67th minute.

Spurs, who wasted numerous chances to kill the game off, saw Chelsea pull a goal back in stoppage time through England midfielder Frank Lampard.

Earlier, veteran midfielder Paul Scholes kept United’s title ambitions alive with a stoppage-time goal in a 1-0 derby win away to Manchester City.

There were barely 20 seconds left in the three minutes of added-on time at the end of the match when Scholes headed in Patrice Evra’s cross at Eastlands.

Sunderland edged Burnley nearer relegation with a 2-1 home win; Hull remained in the drop zone after a goalless draw away to Birmingham; Everton scored a 3-2 victory away to Blackburn Rovers, and Bolton beat Stoke 2-1.