(Adds Man City win)
Leicester City climbed out of the Premier League relegation zone for the first time since November with a battling 1-0 win at bottom club Burnley.
Burnley's Matt Taylor slammed a second-half penalty against the post and from the rebound the visitors counter-attacked, Jamie Vardy tapping the ball in to give Leicester their fourth consecutive victory.
At the other end of the table, Manchester City leapt back into second with a thrilling 3-2 win at home to Aston Villa, after the hosts had squandered a two-goal lead.
It was Fernandinho's 89th minute strike that helped the reigning champions leapfrog Arsenal and Manchester United in the race for Champions League football next season, with the pair both playing home matches tomorrow.
A goalless draw for Liverpool at West Bromwich Albion kept them in fifth ahead of Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton, who drew 2-2 on the south coast, as the close battle for Europa League qualification intensified.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard made his 500th Premier League appearance in his final season in England.
Leicester's recent rival is a remarkable reversal of fortunes for Nigel Pearson's side, who moved up to 17th place and one point above the relegation zone with the win at Burnley.
They had languished at the bottom of the league table for 140 days before climbing two places last week.
No team has avoided relegation having been bottom for that long since the Premier League began 23 years ago, but Leicester's scintillating form suggests history could be made.
"You've got to find ways of winning games," Pearson told the BBC. "The players have deserved the breaks they've got, through a lot of honesty, hard work and ability.
Defeat plunged Burnley deeper into the relegation mire, leaving them five points from the safety zone on 26 points with four games remaining.
It was another tale of a missed penalty in the bottom three as Queens Park Rangers remained 19th with 27 points after top scorer Charlie Austin missed a first-half spot kick in a 0-0 home draw against West Ham United.
Sunderland fell into the bottom three after a 1-1 draw at Stoke City. The visitors took a first-minute lead through Connor Wickham but were pegged back by a superb driven shot from Charlie Adam midway through the first half.
Hull City, in 16th, secured a 2-0 victory at Crystal Palace but remained only one point above the relegation zone while Newcastle United lost 3-2 at home to Swansea City, their seventh straight league defeat.