Ten-man Manchester United held out for a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa but leaders Chelsea went down 2-1 at Everton. Villa's attacking intent was rewarded when a Carlos Cuellar header gave them the lead.
But United hit back and equalised when Ryan Giggs crossed and James Collins scored an own goal.
Nani then saw a straight red for a lunge on Stiliyan Petrov, but United held out to reduce the gap on leaders Chelsea to one point.
Chelsea's title ambitions took a tumble as they went down to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of resurgent Everton at Goodison Park.
Louis Saha bagged a brace as the Toffees came from behind to register the three points.
Florent Malouda opened the scoring for the visitors after 17 minutes but Saha exposed Chelsea's weakness from set-pieces by heading a 33rd-minute equaliser.
The Frenchman had a penalty saved by Petr Cech just before half-time but the Saha made amends by scoring a 75th minute winner.
Arsenal reversed a recent trend of losing to their rivals by bouncing back to winning ways with a 1-0 success over Liverpool at Emirates Stadium.
The only goal arrived with 18 minutes remaining as substitute Tomas Rosicky crossed for Abou Diaby to head home from close range.
The Gunners are now eight points clear in third - although Manchester City in fifth, who are only behind Liverpool on goal-difference, do have a game in hand.
Wolves moved out of the bottom three at the expense of the Champions League ambitions of Tottenham at Molineux.
The only goal of the game arrived just before the half-hour from David Jones, who ensured Wolves did the double over Spurs.
West Ham joined Wolves in moving out of the bottom-three as they claimed a 2-0 win over Birmingham at Upton Park.
Alessandro Diamanti ser the home side on their way when he curled home a brilliant free-kick on the edge of the box.
The points were secured on 67-minutes as Carlton Cole headed home from point-blank range after good work down the right from Julien Faubert.
Blackburn continue to pull away from the cellar dwellers following a tense 1-0 win against Hull at Ewood Park.
Rovers hit the front after 16 minutes when Martin Olsson's low drive across the face of goal was diverted into the net off Hull goalkeeper Boaz Myhill.
The Tigers were then given a mountain to climb as George Boateng was dismissed for leading with his elbow into Morten Gamst Pedersen five minutes before the break.
