Premier League leaders Chelsea slipped up on the weekend as their three title rivals made up ground, prompting the premiership race to really heat up.
The Blues were reduced to ten men at Aston Villa when Willian received a second yellow card before Fabian Delph deftly flicked on an Marc Albrighton cross beyond Petr Cech.
That had the Villa Park fans rocking before Jose Mourinho's side were another man down when Willian's fellow Brazilian Ramires was given his marching orders for a horror injury-time tackle on Karim El Ahmadi.
The 1-0 loss has Chelsea sitting just four points above second-placed Liverpool and third-placed Arsenal, who both have a game in hand, while fourth-placed Manchester City are just six points behind with three extra fixtures to play.
Liverpool beat arch rivals Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford thanks to a pair of penalties from captain Steven Gerrard and a late goal from Luis Suarez, which took his season tally to 25, while United's Nemanja Vidic was sent off for a fourth time against the Reds.
Arsenal kept up appearances with a 1-0 victory over North London enemies Tottenham courtesy of Tomas Rosicky's fine second-minute strike at White Hart Lane while Manchester City managed to beat Hull City 2-0 at the KC Stadium.
Manuel Pellegrini's side shrugged off the early loss of captain Vincent Kompany to a red card to score either side of the break. David Silva opened the scoring in the 14th minute with a stunning curler from range before Edin Dzeko neatly finished a stunning through ball from the Spaniard in the final minute.
Elsewhere, Seamus Coleman scored a late winner as Everton edged relegation battlers Cardiff City 2-1 at Goodison Park, bottom-placed Fulham produced a much-needed 1-0 victory over Newcastle United as West Bromwich Albion came from behind to beat Swansea City 2-1 for Pepe Mel's first win as manager.
Southampton won 4-3 at St Mary's Stadium over Norwich City. The Saints skipped away to a three-goal lead courtesy of goals from Morgan Schneiderlin, Rickie Lambert and Jay Rodriguez at home before the Canaries responded with two goals inside 65 seconds.
Johan Elmander and Robert Snodgrass had the Saints on tenterhooks before Mauricio Pochettino's side grabbed a fourth through Sam Gallagher, who netted his first top flight goal, deep into injury-time.
Peter Odemwingie produced a brace as Stoke City came from behind to get the better of West Ham United 3-1 as Sunderland and Crystal Palace played out a 0-0 draw at the Stadium of Light.
2013/14 Barclays Premier League - season scores
Hull City: 0 Manchester City: 2 (David Silva 14', Edin Dzeko 90', red card: Vincent Kompany 10') KC Stadium, Kingston-upon-Hull - 24,895
Everton: 2 (Gerard Deulofeu 59', Seamus Coleman 90+3') Cardiff City: 1 (Cala 68') Goodison Park, Liverpool - 38,018
Fulham: 1 (Ashkan Dejagah 68') Newcastle United: 0 Craven Cottage, London - 25,664
Southampton: 4 (Morgan Schneiderlin 5', Rickie Lambert 57', Jay Rodriguez 72', Sam Gallagher 90+7') Norwich City: 2 (Johan Elmander 85', Robert Snodgrass 86') St Mary's Stadium, Southampton - 29,828
Stoke City: 3 (Peter Odemwingie 32'/79', Marko Arnautovic 69') West Ham United: 1 (Andy Carroll 5') Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent - 27,015
Sunderland: 0 Crystal Palace: 0 Stadium of Light, Sunderland - 43,636
Swansea City: 1 (Roland Lamah 2') West Bromwich Albion: 2 (Stephane Sessegnon 52', Youssouf Mulumbu 85') Liberty Stadium, Swansea - 20,703
Aston Villa: 1 (Fabian Delph 82') Chelsea: 0 (red cards: Willian 68', Ramires 90+4') Villa Park, Birmingham - 40,084
Manchester United: 0 (red card: Nemanja Vidic 77') Liverpool: 3 (Steven Gerrard (p) 34'/(p) 46', Luis Suarez 84') Old Trafford, Manchester - 75,225
Tottenham: 0 Arsenal: 1 (Tomas Rosicky 2') White Hart Lane, London - 35,711
