Big-spending Chelsea snatched a late and barely deserved 1-0 win at Manchester City to take second place, edging ahead of champions United on goal difference.
Saturday's results could prove to be the turning point in the premier league season as they left Arsenal on 67 points and Chelsea and United on 58 with just 11 games left to play.
Away from the title race, Everton beat Aston Villa 2-0, Blackburn Rovers drew 1-1 with Southampton and the relegation dogfight between Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers finished goalless.
But the spotlight was clearly trained on London, where Arsenal remained unbeaten in their 27 games this season after scoring twice in the opening four minutes.
Robert Pires, scoring his 50th goal for the club, and France team mate Thierry Henry soon had Charlton on the ropes at Highbury, though the visitors rallied in the second half and Claus Jensen's strike could easily have been followed by an equaliser.
But Arsenal hung on grimly for a seventh consecutive league win, rounding off an excellent week after beating Celta Vigo 3-2 away in the first leg of their Champions League first knockout round tie.
By contrast, United's season is running into trouble after a second half equaliser from Fulham's Portuguese forward Luis Boa Morte cost them victory at Loftus Road.
SAHA SCORES
As if part of a script, striker Louis Saha put United ahead in the 14th minute, just a month after his acrimonious departure from Fulham, and the Frenchman had to put up with the constant boos and jeers of his former fans.
United boss Alex Ferguson re-shuffled his pack for the game, surprisingly deciding to leave top scorer Ruud van Nistelrooy, winger Ryan Giggs and goalkeeper Tim Howard on the bench.
Midfielder and skipper Roy Keane had to fill in as a centre back as Ferguson was missing three defenders -- England's Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville, through suspension, and France's Mikael Silvestre, through injury.
But Ferguson's gamble, and the enforced absences, came back to haunt the Scot after Boa Morte's equaliser as they slipped to third in the table, just days after losing 2-1 in Porto in the Champions League.
Substitute Eidur Gudjohnsen grabbed Chelsea's winner in the 82nd minute after City had dominated possession and squandered a host of chances at the City of Manchester stadium.
