Arsenal injected new life into their title bid as Abou Diaby's header saw them end a three-game winless sequence with victory over Liverpool.
Both teams struggled for momentum in a dour first half but the game came alive after the interval as David Ngog and Tomas Rosicky went close.
Rosicky blasted over and Diaby then capped a period of Arsenal pressure by powering in from the Czech's cross.
Ryan Babel's drive was tipped on to
the bar but Liverpool could not level.
Although Rafael Benitez's men pushed hard to salvage a point, subjecting the Gunners to attack after attack late on, Arsenal held out for what could prove a critical win.
With leaders Chelsea losing at Everton and Manchester United drawing at Aston Villa, Arsene Wenger's side move to within six points of leaders Chelsea and five of Manchester United.
They do not play 'big four' opposition again this season and will feel their campaign is back on track after successive defeats by United and Chelsea.
Serious questions have been asked about Arsenal's credentials to win a first Premier League crown since 2004 but, on this evidence, there is life in them yet.
Liverpool remain fourth in the table
but slip eight points behind the Gunners after their first defeat in eight games.
The Reds are still yet to win at the Emirates Stadium but could not have worked harder to come away with something, especially as they flooded forward at the death.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard talked of the need to afford Arsenal as little space as possible and the tactic worked for long periods.
But the hosts were equal to the challenge and, in turn, prevented the visitors from establishing any sort of rhythm until the final quarter.
Wenger refuses to rule out title
Benitez made one alteration to his back four as Martin Skrtel replaced the suspended Sotirios Krygiakos, yet it was still easy to see why Liverpool arrived unbeaten in seven league games with four successive clean sheets.
In the first half they were rarely troubled by Arsenal forwards Nicklas Bendtner or Andrey Arshavin, although Bendtner did slice over from an acute angle after being played in by his strike partner.
Liverpool felt they should have had a penalty when Maxi Rodriguez's strike appeared to cannon into the arm of Thomas Vermaelen and Pepe Reina saved comfortably from Cesc Fabregas.
The half-time whistle came as a relief and, fortunately for all concerned, the second period was a more open affair from the first whistle.
Arshavin drilled a venomous effort into the side-netting and Lucas shot just over when put through by Dirk Kuyt after some careless defending by Gael Clichy.
Benitez confident of top four finish
Both teams were pressing hard for an opener and suddenly the standard of play began to soar.
Gerrard took control of a counter-attack to send Ngog scurrying away but William Gallas slid in with a perfectly-timed tackle as his fellow Frenchman was about to shoot.
At the other end, Arshavin put Rosicky away but he lacked composure and miscontrolled before Bendtner saw an effort scrambled clear.
By now there was a pulsating ebb and flow to the game and the hosts were beginning to dictate, Rosicky flashing inches over via a Javier Mascherano deflection.
It felt like the deadlock would soon be broken and so it proved.
Bendtner showed fine persistence to feed Rosicky on the right and he curled in a superb cross for the unmarked Diaby to head home.
Liverpool came straight back at their opponents and Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia brilliantly tipped Babel's fizzing strike on to the bar.
Benitez's team earned a number of free-kicks in dangerous areas but failed to capitalise.
One set-piece from Gerrard appeared to hit the arm of Fabregas in the wall but referee Howard Webb waved away their appeals, leaving Wenger to celebrate his 300th Premier League win.
United with six games left. Kuyt converted his penalty in the 102nd minute, with the extended amount of added time being down to an injury to Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher during the second half. And the dramatic equaliser from the Reds is a bodyblow to an Arsenal side who briefly thought they had revived their chances of catching Premier League leaders Manchester United. The latest setback for the Gunners is likely to be too much for them to recover from, and it adds to the recent agonies of being beaten in the Carling Cup final and suffering a Champions League exit at the hands of Barcelona. The prospect of the Gunners ending a sixth season without any silverware is looming large, with Wenger's strategy of relying on talent groomed through the club rather than bringing in expensive reinforcements from the transfer market set to be called into question once again. Up until Van Persie's penalty, it was also a game in which the home side had only provided more weight to criticism that they are pretty without
being penetrative, as they had been repelled by an under-strength but resilient Liverpool outfit. There had been a period of silence ahead of the kick-off as the two clubs paid their respects to Arsenal director Danny Fiszman after his death earlier in the week, as well marking the 15 April anniversary of the death of 96 Liverpool fans in the Hillsborough tragedy in 1989. When play did get under way, Arsenal's need for a win to maintain their title challenge put the emphasis on them to attack, while Liverpool tried to soak up the pressure and catch their rivals on the counter-attack. Liverpool's tactics were almost ruined as early as the fourth minute when Abou Diaby beat Reds striker Andy Carroll to a Samir Nasri free-kick but glanced his header narrowly wide. Carroll's impact was not going to be in defence though, as he had the task of testing how the Gunners back-line would deal with the kind of physical threat the home side have previously struggled against. And, after Arsenal centre-back Johan Djourou escaped giving away a penalty for a foul on Spearing, Carroll got his head to a number of balls, only to fail to test Gunners keeper Wojciech Szczesny. His aerial prowess did serve as a warning for the home side, especially considering the England international had already scored at the Emirates this season with a header from a diagonal free-kick when his former club Newcastle won 1-0. To Arsenal's credit they managed to limit his threat but, despite dominating possession, they failed to find a way through a Liverpool rearguard which had seen 17-year-old Jack Robinson replace the injured Fabio Aurelio after 21 minutes. Robinson became Liverpool's youngest ever player when he came on against Hull City in the final game of 2009-10 season aged 16 years and 250 days and he joined 18-year-old John Flanagan in the Reds defence. For all of Arsenal's passing and probing they almost went ahead from set piece, when a Van Persie corner was headed against the crossbar by Laurent Koscielny. Wenger's side had a shout for a penalty when Theo Walcott was quickest to the loose ball and claimed his follow-up shot struck the arm of Kuyt, although referee Andre Marriner disagreed. Arsenal's intricacy was being repelled by Liverpool's resilience, with Martin Skrtel having to block an angled shot by overlapping Gunners right-back Eboue on the stroke of half-time. Carragher's head injury after a clash with team-mate Flanagan brought a halt to proceedings before Luis Suarez nearly punished the home side for their lack of cutting edge. The Uruguayan has earned plenty of plaudits since his arrival in January and, even though he had endured a frustrating time, h
e sent a strike just wide after the Gunners defence backed off. Arsenal responded with Van Persie chipping a shot over the on-rushing Reina but too high, then heading wide at the near post and finally having a shot saved when one-on-one with the Reds keeper. The Dutch forward thought he had atoned for his misses when he confidently slotted in, only for Eboue's mistake at the other end to prove costly. Eboue clattered into the back of Leiva as both players attempted to retrieve the loose ball after a Suarez free-kick hit the wall. Kuyt kept his cool in a cauldron of noise to slot in the equaliser with the last kick of the match as the Reds, who have 18 top-flight titles along with Manchester United, ironically helped their rivals to move ahead of them.
