Arsenal missed out on more vital points as they were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by Bolton at the Reebok Stadium.
The visitors dropped a place on Tuesday as a result of Liverpool's win over Wolves and needed a victory of their own to reclaim fifth spot.
However, dogged defending from Bolton and a lack of clinical effort up front left Arsene Wenger's men with nothing to show for their efforts after 90 minutes.
The Gunners had two good chances in the first half, with Robin van Persie heading past goalkeeper Adam Bogdan, but the striker's effort was kept out with a clearance off the line.
Aaron Ramsey also tried his luck, but his tame shot offered little challenge for Bogdan after being played through by van Persie.
Second-half arrived and Arsenal began to dominate, albeit wastefully and Bolton dogged defence frustrated matters even further until the final whistle put them out of their misery to earn the hosts a very valiant point.
David Ngog then proceeded to show how much of a threat he could be to the Arsenal defence with two efforts of his own.
The initial chance forced a commanding save from Wojciech Szczesny after turning a poor Laurent Koscielny to open himself up to goal.
The Frenchman was not deterred and tried again after Gretar Steinsson got himself high up on the pitch to make an audacious flick to the former Liverpool striker, whose shot beat Szczesny but dribbled agonisingly wide.
Dogged defending from the hosts meant for a stubborn battle in the Bolton third and the Gunners found it hard to get even the slightest sight of goal.
Arsenal came out fighting and continuously ambushed the Bolton defence with crosses and passes through the middle for the waiting van Persie, but the Dutchman was continuously frustrated by a resolute Wanderers back four.
Van Persie's best chance came late on when he fired into the woodwork after good work down the right from Bacary Sagna, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also missed a good opportunity whn he fired over the bar minutes later.
Bolton were unlucky not to be awarded a late penalty, with Szczesny fortunate not to be penalised for bringing down Mark Davies in the final minutes.