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QPR collected a valuable victory in their battle against the drop as Samba Diakite's first goal for the club ended in-form Arsenal's winning run.
Adel Taarabt had darted past Thomas Vermaelen to fire in the game's opener but the hosts were soon pegged back.
Theo Walcott found space in the box and sidefooted into an open net after his initial effort came back off the post.
Paddy Kenny denied Robin van Persie one-on-one after the break before Diakite blasted in Jamie Mackie's pass.
The Hoops remain in the relegation zone only on goals scored, having the same points and goal difference as the Blackburn side who occupy 17th place.
Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea are among QPR's final seven games, but, after defeating Liverpool in their previous home game , Mark Hughes' side will fancy their chances of taking more big-name scalps in the run-in.
The hosts showed the industry and determination that has become their manager's hallmark, but there was no shortage of quality to their play either.
With seven Premier League successive victories behind them, Arsenal began with a confidence that ebbed away as they soon found themselves forced back.
Taarabt's erratic set-piece delivery came good as Bobby Zamora nodded over while Alex Song was fortunate to escape when Nedum Onuoha's volley appeared to strike his hand.
As QPR grew in belief, Taarabt skinned Vermaelen with a slick shuffle of feet, advanced on goal and wrapped a low curling shot round Wojciech Szczesny to put his side ahead.
The Moroccan had taken more shots than any other player without scoring in the Premier League, but his finish made a mockery of that statistic.
QPR's fans were cheering every pass as their team moved the ball about neatly in the middle of the field, but their joy came to an end when Arsenal struck back without warning.
As a clutch of QPR defenders were drawn to van Persie on the edge of the box, Walcott sneaked free of his marker and tucked the ball home at the second attempt after the division's top-scorer had smuggled the ball to him through Clint Hill's legs.
With the scores level, neither side could gain an upper hand early in the second half.
Mackie was denied a penalty - falling under Laurent Koscielny's challenge while gamely chasing a long ball - in between dangerous efforts at the other end from Kieran Gibbs and Aaron Ramsey.
Van Persie, without a goal in his previous two games, had a great chance but Kenny managed to palm away his fierce shot after the Dutchman had scampered clear.
Diakite gave Szczesny no chance to match those heroics though as he slammed Mackie's cut-back into the net shortly after.
Arsenal threw on Marouane Chamakh and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and ushered Szczesny forward for a late corner, but Joey Barton came as close as anyone to adding to the scoreline, as the visitors tasted defeat in the league for the first time since 22 January.
Goals from Kieran Gibbs, Theo Walcott and Mikel Arteta gave Arsenal victory over Aston Villa and took their winning run to seven Premier League matches.
Gibbs exposed some poor defending and goalkeeping from Villa to put the hosts in front with a crisp low finish.
Arsenal were dominating their opponents and doubled the lead when the excellent Walcott collected Alex Song's lofted ball and slotted past Shay Given.
Arteta wrapped up the match in stoppage time with a stunning free-kick.
It was another important result for the Gunners, moving them three points above fourth-placed Tottenham - who drew 0-0 with Chelsea earlier in the day - and continuing their superb upturn in form.
For much of the season their hopes of a top-four finish looked in serious doubt, but that now looks comfortably within their grasp.
Their day did not start so well as centre-back Laurent Koscielny pulled out of the side after feeling a knee injury during the warm-up.
More trouble loomed when his replacement, Johan Djourou, required lengthy treatment after being hit in the face by Emile Heskey's arm.
But the Swiss recovered and, aside from a Marc Albrighton drive that sailed over shortly after the re-start, Arsenal were in total control.
Villa had no answer to the pace of wingers Walcott and Gervinho, and allowed Arsenal far too much time and space to pick passes to the pair.
There was an early warning when Given parried Walcott's strike after a sharp exchange between Walcott, Bacary Sagna and Robin van Persie.
Villa, who remain three places above the relegation zone, were desperately lacking the defensive leadership of injured captain Richard Dunne - never more so than when Arsenal opened the scoring.
Alan Hutton, Stilyan Petrov and Chris Herd stood still as Gibbs collected Gervinho's pass and fired in an effort that Given should have saved.
Walcott then skilfully met Thomas Vermaelen's diagonal ball and ghosted behind Stephen Warnock before Carlos Cueller arrived with vital clearance.
Villa had lost only one of their previous eight away games and they briefly threatened when Stephen Ireland broke clear and crossed towards Heskey, only for Vermaelen to intercept.
Arsenal were swiftly back on the offensive and their reward came when Song found Walcott and he stepped inside Cuellar to side-foot home.
Given saved well from a Van Persie header and Arteta's drive, while Warnock brilliantly nodded Van Persie's goalbound shot over the bar.
The second half was more even, with Djourou needing to be alert when Albrighton crossed for Gabriel Agbonlahor, while Song headed over and Tomas Rosicky tested Given from distance.
Both managers used their full quota of substitutes and one of Villa's, Andreas Weimann, benefited from an error by one of Arsenal's, Andre Santos, but dragged wide when clean through.
Arteta then had the final word, producing a magnificent set-piece with virtually the final kick.
Arsenal moved up to third in the table after claiming their sixth successive Premier League win courtesy of a battling display at Everton.
Thomas Vermaelen headed the only goal of the game from a corner during a period of early Arsenal dominance.
But Everton rallied and were denied an equaliser when Royston Drenthe's finish was wrongly ruled out for offside.
The Toffees had further chances to get something from the game but the Gunners showed great resilience to hold on.
What is clear from this is that early February reports of Arsenal's demise were greatly exaggerated.
Following a 0-0 draw at Bolton seven weeks ago, the Gunners were seventh, 12 points behind third-placed, north London rivals Tottenham, bringing the doom-mongers out in force.
However, their last six games have seen them take 18 points, score 19 goals, rediscover the confident swagger for which they are synonymous under Arsene Wenger and demonstrate a resilience many thought they lacked.
At Goodison Park, the opening 15 minutes were a testimony to the north London side's attacking prowess as the reborn Tomas Rosicky, the supremely prolific Robin van Persie and the recalled Aaron Ramsey all threatened to put the game beyond the home side.
This period should have yielded greater reward than Vermaelen's solitary headed goal from a Van Persie corner.
Everton are a potent force on their own turf, though, as Champions League-chasing trio Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham have all discovered recently, and they stemmed the tide before turning it in their favour for much of the remainder of the game.
That the Toffees got nothing from the match is because of a combination of three factors - their own inefficiency in front of goal, Arsenal's newfound defensive solidity and an erroneous assistant's flag.
The latter came shortly after Vermaelen's goal as Drenthe's finish from inside the box was ruled out for offside, only for replays to show he was two yards behind the last defender at the time of Tim Cahill's pass.
This could have been the platform the home side needed to go and potentially win the game but, instead, they were unable to convert long periods of possession into enough clear-cut chances to hurt the visitors.
Their best chances fell to Marouane Fellaini, who headed across goal and wide, and Drenthe, who fired over from the edge of the area.
Earlier in the season, Arsenal would not have won this game, but a settled back five has given them a new robustness.
It was this that ultimately earned them a three points that sees them move above rivals Spurs - who drew 1-1 at home to Stoke on Wednesday - for the first time since September.
Thomas Vermaelen struck in the fifth minute of injury time as Arsenal moved to within one point of bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur with a dramatic 2-1 win over Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners went behind to a precise finish from Hatem Ben Arfa in the first half but they were level 55 seconds later when Robin van Persie held off Mike Williamson's challenge to slot home Theo Walcott's cross.
Van Persie, Tomas Rosicky and Gervinho were all guilty of wasting good chances in the second half and the game looked beyond Arsenal, but Vermaelen popped up in the 95th minute to rifle home Walcott's cross from close range to snatch all three points.
The last-gasp win, Arsenal's fifth on the bounce, means the ten-point gap that once separated them from Spurs has now been reduced to one, and the Gunners all of a sudden seem well-placed to achieve the top-four finish that seemed way beyond them at the turn of the year.
Having stretched their unbeaten run to four games with an impressive hammering of AC Milan last week, it looked as if tonight's game was set to be a stroll for the home side, and it started as such on a chilly night in north London.
Walcott found space on the touchline and whipped across a wicked pass, but Van Persie somehow failed to tap in from six yards. Cheick Tiote was then lucky to escape without a booking after sinking his studs into Alex Song's ankle with a late challenge.
The Gunners were dominating but the home crowd were stunned in to silence in the 15th minute when the Magpies took the lead. Vermaelen erroneously passed to Tiote and the ball found its way to the right flank, where Ben Arfa cut inside and fired a precise finish past Wojciech Szczesny.
The home crowd were on their feet less than a minute later, however, as Van Persie came to the rescue. Walcott galloped down the right after being freed by Rosicky and he crossed for the Dutchman, who shrugged off Williamson's challenge before slotting home.
A scrappy period followed. Arsenal's build-up play was impressive but they were failing to test Tim Krul in the Newcastle goal. Fabricio Coloccini did well to block Walcott's shot as the ball pinged around the Newcastle box in the closing minutes of the first half.
Newcastle brought on James Perch for Davide Santon, who had struggled to keep tabs on Walcott during the first half. The England winger did not take long to slip past his new marker, however, as he got to the byline and curled over a lovely ball but Rosicky headed at Krul.
Coloccini threw himself into the line of Mikel Arteta's shot to deny Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who moments later delivered a pin-point cross to Van Persie but the striker could only muster a weak shot at Krul.
Rosicky, who earlier today signed a contract extension, was in exquisite form, embarrassing Yohan Cabaye with a clever turn before finding Van Persie in the box, but he was again denied by Krul.
Rosicky then missed a glorious chance to put Arsenal ahead. He exchanged passes with Walcott, and found acres of space in the box but he mishit so badly that his shot went out for a throw.
Newcastle gifted Arsenal another chance to equalise ten minutes from the end when Ben Arfa surrendered possession to Kieran Gibbs, who found Van Persie in the box but he fired well wide from a tight angle.
It seemed as if Arsenal were not going to find their way through as another chance to win the game escaped them. Arteta's corner somehow evaded everyone in the box apart from Gervinho at the back post but he horribly miscued wide.
Krul came to Newcastle's rescue in the final minute, palming over a brilliant header from Vermaelen with an acrobatic save which looked to have rescued the game. Walcott drove a deflected shot over in injury time, which he felt struck Coloccini's arm, but referee Howard Webb waved away his protests.
Arsene Wenger thought the game was over, sitting with his head in his hands, but Walcott's 95th-minute cross dropped into Vermaelen's path and he finished from close range to send the home crowd into ecstasy.
Robin van Persie struck an injury-time winner as Arsenal dealt Liverpool's hopes of Champions League qualification a shattering blow with a 2-1 win victory at Anfield.
Dutch international Van Persie volleyed home magnificently in the third minute of stoppage time to claim his second of the match and take his season's tally to 31 in all competitions.
Van Persie's last-gasp winner saw Arsene Wenger's side cement their grip on fourth place, and moved the Londoners to within four points of third-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who play Manchester United tomorrow.
But the defeat has left Liverpool with a mountain to climb if they are to secure a return to Europe's elite next season, with ten points now separating them from Arsenal in fourth. The defeat was cruel on the Merseysiders, who had dominated throughout only to be denied by a string of superb saves from Wojciech Szczesny and the woodwork.
Van Persie admitted Liverpool had been unlucky to lose. "I don't think we deserved it if I'm being honest because Liverpool played better but to nick it like we did, we can only be pleased," the striker said.
"We are ten points ahead of Liverpool now and Spurs play tomorrow against Man Utd. We will have to wait and see. It is a big win, a massive win."
Polish international Szczesny had needed to be alert from the outset, reacting swiftly in the tenth minute to snuff out a break from Luis Suarez before dealing with a follow-up from Stewart Downing.
Szczesny then pulled off a superb double save as Liverpool missed their sixth penalty of the campaign after the Arsenal goalkeeper was adjudged to have brought down Suarez following a neat one-two with Dirk Kuyt.
Kuyt's spot-kick was firm but Szczesny guessed correctly, diving to his right to block before springing back across goal to deny Kuyt's attempted rebound.
It was only a temporary reprieve, however, as Liverpool took the lead on 23 minutes, Koscielny turning Jordan Henderson's whipped low cross into his own net past Szczesny. Two minutes later and Liverpool were threatening again, Suarez's shot denied by the foot of the post.
But Arsenal were back on level terms in the 31st minute with their first genuine effort of the game. Bacary Sagna sent in a superb deep cross from wide on the right and Van Persie held off the attentions of Jamie Carragher to head past Pepe Reina.
Liverpool continued to look the likeliest to score, however, and Suarez drew another fine save from Szczesny on 40 minutes after weaving his way through the Arsenal defence.
Liverpool struggled to carve out as many clear chances after the break but the Reds did squander a golden chance to go 2-1 ahead on 70 minutes. Kuyt crossed from the right to find an unmarked Martin Kelly only for the defender to miskick from point-blank range with the goalmouth gaping.
A draw seemed the likeliest result but deep into injury time, provoked by a second-half injury to Mikel Arteta, Alex Song chipped into the Liverpool area and Van Persie volleyed home on the full to clinch a dramatic win.
