Manchester United closed the gap on third-placed Southampton to one point with a 2-1 victory at home to Stoke City.
Marouane Fellaini headed the hosts ahead midway through the first half but Steven Nzonzi equalised before the break with a superb strike.
Juan Mata and Marcos Rojo both claimed the winner but it was Mata who was credited with the decisive strike. His 59th-minute cross from a free kick appeared to bounce straight in, although Rojo celebrated as if he had got a faint touch.
There was great drama in injury time as David de Gea produced two brilliant saves to deny Mame Biram Diouf and Marko Arnautovic, before Ashley Young then sensationally cleared off the line from Diouf.
It secured a fourth successive Premier League win for United -- who had been without captain Wayne Rooney -- but only by the skin of their teeth.
Liverpool may want to re-think the contract offer made to Steven Gerrard after their captain bailed them out in a 3-1 comeback victory over Leicester City like he has done so many times in the past.
The former England midfielder's current deal expires in the summer and, despite the offer of an extension, he has yet to commit to stay at the club he has been with since he was nine.
But while Gerrard may be deliberating his next move, reportedly wanting double the one-year contract on offer, he showed no hesitation on the pitch with a coolly-placed goal to set his side on the way to victory and provide a reminder of glory days gone by.
That completed the comeback after Adam Lallana had equalised goalkeeper Simon Mignolet's unfortunate own goal in the first half and, when Wes Morgan was shown a red card, Jordan Henderson secured back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time since October.
West Ham United hit back to win 2-1 at West Bromwich Albion and heap more pressure on Baggies boss Alan Irvine.
Kevin Nolan and James Tomkins cancelled out Craig Dawson's early opener as the hosts slipped to their fourth straight defeat.
The Hammers, though, remain fifth in the table after another impressive victory.
Dawson had become the first Albion player to score in 370 minutes but the Baggies' dream start turned into a nightmare before the break as the Hammers scored twice before the teams went in for the interval.
Swansea moved into the top six after Ki Sung-yueng finally unlocked QPR's defence to set them on the way to a 2-0 win at the Liberty Stadium.
Rangers defended resiliently for 78 minutes before Swansea's top goalscorer Wilfried Bony turned provider and set up the South Korean midfielder for his first Liberty goal, a sweet strike past the previously unbeatable Rob Green.
The goalkeeper had made several excellent stops to keep the scores level but he was beaten again four minutes later when substitute Nathan Dyer set up Rangers old boy Wayne Routledge from just outside the area.
Burnley climbed out of the relegation zone for the first time since September after extending their undefeated run to four matches with a 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle United.
The match itself was unremarkable, an occasionally untidy scuffle lit up by George Boyd's 20-yard opener for the hosts and Yoann Gouffran's clever flick that teed up Papiss Cisse's equaliser.
Christian Benteke single-handedly dragged Aston Villa out of their nine-game winless streak, securing a 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace.
Benteke side-footed the winner in a low-quality Premier League encounter at Selhurst Park to toast his return from a three-match ban for his red card against Tottenham.
Palace slipped to their fifth defeat in eight games, and had only themselves to blame, wasting countless half-chances in a fruitless search for a quality final ball.