Michael van Gerwen battled back from 4-1 down to defeat Nathan Aspinall 8-6 on Friday in Milton Keynes, as the reigning champion ended his losing run in the Unibet Premier League.
Following back-to-back losses to Glen Durrant and Gary Anderson, Van Gerwen was facing the prospect of three straight Premier League defeats for the first time as Aspinall opened up a three-leg lead.
Aspinall, who beat the Dutchman in Cardiff on Night Three, saw his advantage slashed by Van Gerwen who won four consecutive legs to lead for the first time at 5-4.
Van Gerwen went 7-5 up to ensure his losing run would end, but Aspinall checked out 81 to take the match the distance.
Aspinall missed a dart at the bullseye in a tense final leg, allowing the world number one to step in and find double top to get back to winning ways.
"I'm not in the best form of my life but I keep fighting," said a relieved Van Gerwen, who moves up to second place in the table.
"I think it was a really tense game from both of us. We both badly needed the points.
"I keep making things so difficult for myself with poor scores at the start of legs and I need to work hard to get over that step.
"At this moment I'm happy with two points, that's the most important thing.
"Darts is a mental game and when things don't go your way then you need to work hard to get out of it and that's why I'm world number one."
Anderson also came from behind to win on Night Ten at the Marshall Arena which saw the tournament move into its second phase after Judgement Night.
A remarkable comeback from Anderson against fellow-Scot Peter Wright saw the two-time Premier League champion reel off six successive legs to turn around a 5-2 deficit to win 8-5.
A high-quality contest saw the 2019 World Cup winning pair both average over 100, but it was Wright who started the better, with finishes of 127 and 102 helping him to a 5-2 lead.
However, Wright would attempt just four more darts at double in the contest as Anderson found spells of his fluent best to outscore the World Champion and finish ruthlessly to join Wright on 12 points in the Play-Off places.
"I just kept going. Peter was taking out some great finishes at the start but I thought it might come good and he might start missing a few doubles," said Anderson.
"It's going alright, I feel very calm up there even though my darts are sometimes all over the place. I've still got a bit of fight left in me."
On his next opponent Durrant, Anderson added: "Glen has played really well. He's averaged 102, 104 and 106 in the last few games.
"It's the first time in a long time that Michael [van Gerwen] hasn't topped the group and it takes a good player to do that."
Durrant cemented his place at the top of the table, seeing off Gerwyn Price 8-4 in convincing style to notch a third straight win.
Despite averaging under 100 for the first time since Tuesday's restart, Durrant kept his opponent at arm's length throughout the contest to pick up another two points to maintain his cushion ahead of the chasing pack.
Finishes of 140 and 116 from Price were not enough to spark a fire in the below-par Welshman as he suffered a second loss of the campaign to Durrant, who now has a Play-Off place within reach.
"That's a massive win for me. To get seven points against four of the best players in the world is massive for me," said Durrant, who is four points clear of Van Gerwen, Wright and Anderson.
"I'm showing a different side of myself, no more 'Mr Nice Guy'. It's about me and I've got good people around me.
"There was no disrespect from my part. I was just glad to get over the winning line.
"I shouted when I won my seventh leg because that's how I felt in the moment.
"The problem was the celebration was premeditated. If you look at my 15 darts before that I don't think I hit a score over 100 because I was waiting to shout and scream but I won't make that mistake again."
Michael Smith remains just a point outside the Play-Off spots after he claimed a comfortable 8-3 victory over Daryl Gurney.
A fixture which produced a nine-darter from Smith in Dublin on Night Four saw both players miss 14 darts at double, though it was Smith who took more of his chances.
Smith, who shook off the disappointment of squandering a 5-3 lead in his 7-5 loss to Aspinall the previous night, punished 14 missed doubles from Gurney, who is now three points adrift at the foot of the table.
As well as Anderson v Durrant, Saturday's Night 11 will also see Van Gerwen take on Price in a meeting of two of the world's top three.
Wright will face Gurney in the night's opening contest, while Smith will be seeking to avenge Wednesday's loss to Aspinall.
Live coverage of Unibet Premier League Night 11 will be shown on Sky Sports, as well as through the PDC's international broadcast partners including RTL7 and DAZN and for PDCTV Rest of the World Subscribers.
Unibet Premier League Night Ten
Friday August 28
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
Glen Durrant 8-4 Gerwyn Price
Gary Anderson 8-5 Peter Wright
Michael van Gerwen 8-6 Nathan Aspinall
Michael Smith 8-3 Daryl Gurney
Unibet Premier League Night 11
Saturday August 29 (1900 BST)
Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes
Daryl Gurney v Peter Wright
Michael Smith v Nathan Aspinall
Gary Anderson v Glen Durrant
Michael van Gerwen v Gerwyn Price
