Gabriel Agbonlahor headed Aston Villa to their first Old Trafford win in 26 years. (Photo via Newscom)

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The most wide-open English Premier League season since 1998-99 saw the league's top two tripped up.

Chelsea has been atop the league all season, but on the back of their loss last week at Manchester City, their draw at Stamford Bridge with Everton opened the door for second-place Manchester United to pull even on points.  The leaders saw three strange goals allowed (and own goal off of Petr Cech's back, Didier Drogba heading a ball off Louis Saha into his own goal, and a ball hit a floored Ricardo Carvalho and bounce to the foot of Yakubu for another goal) cancel out a brace from Didier Drogba, and the match ended drawn at three.

United stumbled at Old Stafford to an Aston Villa side that's climbed to fourth.  Gabriel Agbonlahor's first half header got Martin O'Neill's side three points and prevented Manchester United from drawing even on points with Chelsea.

Arsenal used second half goals from Liverpool's Glen Johnson and Andrei Arshavin (shining for the second year in a row at Anfield) to get a 2-1 win and move into third place.

Tottenham sits fifth after a disappointing home loss to Wolverhampton (1-0) followed by Manchester City, who drew at Bolton (3-3)

Here are how the other leagues around Europe stand after this weekend:

Spain

Real Madrid was without an injured Kaka and a suspended Cristiano Ronaldo.  They loss center back Pepe to a long term injury.  Still, Manuel Pellegrini's side got a 3-2 at previously third-place Valencia thanks to two goals from Gonzalo Higuaín. 

Los Blancos kept place with a Barcelona team that was fortunate to get their goal against Espanyol.  A backpedaling Xavi Hernández stumbled over his own feet in the first half, in the Espnayol area.  Eduardo González saw a penalty there, Zlatan Ibrahimovic converted, and the Catalan derby ended with a controversial 1-0 result.

Sevilla posted a strong 1-0 win at Sporting Gijon, moving them into third.  Mallorca's 1-0 win at Osasuna puts them in fifth, behind Valencia, with Deportivo La Coruña moving down to sixth after drawing at Alermia, 1-1.

Italy

The big three clubs at the top of the table all  stumbled.  Internazionale was drawn at Atalante yet increased their leads over Milan (who lost 2-0 at home to Palermo) and Juventus (who lost 3-1 at Bari).

Parma continues to be the story of the league after winning 2-1 at home to  Bologna.  Nicola Amoruso's late winner came after Bologna had seen a man dismissed, allowing their hosts full points.  Parma now sits on 28, only two behind Juve, three behind Milan.

France

In a drab affair, Bordeaux increased the distance between themselves and their  greatest challenger, Lyon, after their 1-0 win at the Stade de Gerland.  Marauone Chamakh was  step-up for a late goal by Yoann Gourcuff when the Bordeaux midfielder  shook defender Jean-Alain Boumsong before finding his teammate  with a cross to the far post.

Lyon's loss drops them to ninth in a tight Ligue Un table, with Montpelier's 30 points holding second, four points behind Bordeaux.

Germany

Bayer Leverkusen's disappointing, 2-2 draw Friday at Hertha BSC allowed Schalke 04 to close within one point after their defeat of previously second-place Werder Bremen, 2-0 on Saturday.  Bremen fell all the way to fourth after a resurgent Bayern Munchen passed them following a resounding 5-1 win at Bochem where Ivica Olic had two goals.

Ukraine

Dynamo Kyiv got a score from sixth-placed Tavriya Simferopol, with their hosts pulling back two early goals fore finally succumbing, 3-2, after Artem Kravet's late match-winner.  The win keeps Kyiv two points ahead of Shakhtar Donetsk, who scored two goals while up a man to win 2-1 on Saturday over Illychivets Mariupol.  Now more than half way through the Ukranian league season, Dynamo sits with 42 points (through 16 matches), holding a game-in-hand on Shakhtar, two points back.

Portugal

Benfica and Braga, starting the weekend tied atop the Liga Sagres table, brought defending champions Porto back into the race.  Benfica needed a late goal from an dusted-off Nuno Gomes to get a 2-2 draw against relegation-battling Olhanense in a match that featured three red cards.  On Sunday, Braga kept their seventh clean sheet of the season but failed to improve on their 18 goals (13 matches) in a nil-nil draw hosting Naval.  Meanwhile, Porto closed the gap to one point, winning 2-0 over Victoria Setubal with a XI full of reserves.

Netherlands

FC Twente's 3-1 win over NAC Breda allowed Steve McLaren's side to keep their two point lead over PSV, who won 1-0 over last year's champions, AZ.  Twente has 47 points through 17 matches, eight better than third place Ajax, who beat NEC 3-0 on Friday, with Luis Suárez getting the opener, his 18th goal in 17 league matches.

Turkey

Kayserispor held onto their spot atop the Turkcell SuperLig with a 2-1 win at Istabul BB, staying even on points (with the differential advantage) with Fenerbahce, who beat Ankaragücü on Saturday, 3-2, thanks to two goals from Alex. Galatasaray stays one point back with a 3-2 win on Friday over Antalyaspor, coming back from two down in the process. Bursaspor and Besiktas, with 32 points each, are two back.