What manager Arsene Wenger described as a "great week" for Arsenal had the perfect conclusion when rivals Spurs stalled in pursuit, their long unbeaten run ending in a 2-1 defeat by Newcastle United with a last-gasp Ayoze Perez goal.
Liverpool's challenge under Juergen Klopp also stuttered before they escaped with a 2-2 draw at home to West Bromwich Albion thanks to a deflected stoppage-time Divock Origi effort.
Arsenal celebrated a 50th Premier League goal for Olivier Giroud - a penalty converted four days after his Champions League hat-trick against Olympiakos Piraeus - which swiftly brought more gloom to Villa Park after eight minutes.
Mesut Ozil then produced his 13th assist of the season to allow Aaron Ramsey to slot home in the 38th minute and enable Arsenal to move on to 33 points, one point clear of Manchester City and Leicester City and four ahead of Manchester United.
Leicester have the chance to regain the leadership when they entertain Chelsea on Monday.
The defeat left Villa stranded at the foot of the table on six points from 16 games, six adrift of 19th-placed Sunderland.
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech equalled David James's all-time Premier League record with his 169th clean sheet, in 349 games, prompting Wenger to hail him as "an absolute all-time great".
Spurs, unbeaten for 14 league games since their opening day defeat at Manchester United, were stunned to become victims of Newcastle's mini-revival under Steve McClaren at White Hart Lane.
The defeat means the Londoners stay fifth on 26 points, missing the chance to move into the top four ahead of Manchester United who suffered a shock 2-1 loss at Bournemouth on Saturday.
Tottenham midfielder Eric Dier met Christian Eriksen's corner with a 39th minute glancing header, which was just reward for their early superiority, but Newcastle, fresh from beating Liverpool last week, were inspired by a double substitution.
First, Spurs failed to deal with a free kick enabling Aleksandar Mitrovic to bundle home a scruffy 74th minute goal, practically the Serb's first touch of the match.
Then the other substitute Perez's 93rd minute volley, that goalkeeper Hugo Lloris let squirm through his grasp, earned Newcastle their first back-to-back wins in the league for a year, taking them out of the relegation zone into 15th place, one above champions Chelsea.
Klopp let his players take a bow hand-in-hand in front of the Kop after snatching a very late draw at home to Albion.
"It was the perfect finish to this game," he enthused, after a speculative, deflected shot from Belgian Origi in the 96th minute.
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