Arsenal reclaimed a top four spot after Robin Van Persie's strike sealed a 1-0 win over QPR at the Emirates.
The Dutchman's second-half effort left Rangers in a precarious position above the drop-zone but he finished just one short of Alan Shearer's record of Premier League goals in a calendar year.
A Shaun Wright-Phillips shot tested Wojciech Szczesny as the Rs started brightly, but Van Persie then came to the fore as he stabbed the ball at Radek Cerny before heading just wide.
Van Persie continued to worry the visitors' back-line and his chip dropped just over the bar, while team-mate Aaron Ramsey saw his goalbound shot blocked by Joey Barton.
There was a further reprieve for Rangers when Theo Walcott raced clear only to drag the ball wide, but Van Persie (60) showed him the way to goal when he swept in Andrey Arshavin's clever pass.
Gervinho somehow failed to add a second when he fired wide from close range and Ramsey nearly teed up a late milestone strike for Van Persie, who could not apply a telling final touch.
Chelsea 1-3 Aston Villa
Andre Villas-Boas said Aston Villa were much more effective than Chelsea.
Stephen Ireland was the unlikeliest of inspirations for Aston Villa as they snatched a shock 3-1 victory over erratic Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Ireland's first goal for Villa cancelled out a Didier Drogba penalty, and he set up a late third for Darren Bent after Stiliyan Petrov had fired the visitors ahead.
Villa's confident start was undone on 22 minutes when Richard Dunne's careless lunge upended Drogba, who picked himself up to hammer home the resulting spot-kick.
But Ireland levelled five minutes later, slotting in his first goal for over two years after John Terry blocked his initial effort on the line.
Petr Cech came out on top of a one-on-one with Gabriel Agbonlahor, and Fernando Torres almost made an immediate impact off the bench when his 30-yard drive cannoned off the bar.
But Villa went ahead on 83 minutes when Petrov latched onto Ciaran Clark's through-ball and held his nerve to clip over the onrushing Cech.
And Bent put the result beyond doubt three minutes later, tucking in a neat third after Ireland intercepted substitute Frank Lampard's wayward pass.
Manchester United 2-3 Blackburn
Blackburn spoiled Sir Alex Ferguson's 70th birthday celebrations by upsetting his Manchester United side 3-2 at Old Trafford.
Dimitar Berbatov looked to have spared United's blushes with a second-half double after two goals from Yakubu had shocked the home crowd.
But with 10 minutes remaining, keeper David De Gea flapped at a corner and Grant Hanley headed home at the second attempt to deny United top spot in the Premier League going into 2012.
United had dominated the opening exchanges but fell behind when Berbatov was judged to have pulled down Chris Samba and Yakubu sent De Gea the wrong way from the spot.
Nani tried to get United back on terms but his efforts were increasingly ambitious and wayward until he finally tested Mark Bunn just before the interval.
The Portuguese sent another effort marginally over after the restart before Yakubu (51) added Rovers' second, muscling through the United defence before drilling through De Gea's legs.
Berbatov responded less than a minute later when Rafael's shot bounced up nicely for the Bulgarian to head home and he swept in Antonio Valencia's cross on 62 to make it two apiece.
Valencia went close to giving United the lead with an angled drive on 75 but it was Hanley who had the final word although Berbatov had a low drive cleared off the line in stoppage time.
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