Premier League Scores Week 12: Most Surprising Results of Weekend Action

Sunday's Premier League action has concluded, and the two games played capped a weekend that featured some surprising results.

The usual top teams on the EPL table came out on top against lesser opponents. Newcastle defeated Norwich City, Arsenal defeated Southampton and Chelsea defeated West Ham. As the season continues to progress, it'll be important for the top teams to continue to take advantage of lesser competition.

Week 12 action concludes in its entirety on Monday night when West Brom faces off against Aston Villa; though, that game doesn't appear to have major implications at this point in the year. For now, the following results are the most surprising of the week.

Crystal Palace Picks Up a Victory

The fact that Crystal Palace picked up a 1-0 win on Saturday is a surprise in itself. Sure, it came against a Hull City team that ranks just a few places higher than them on the EPL table, but a win is a win.

Barry Bannan scored the lone goal of the match for Crystal Palace with 12 minutes left in the game, and it was the team's first goal since a 4-1 loss at the hands of Fulham on Oct. 21.

Previously at the bottom of the EPL table, Crystal Palace now ranks No. 19 with the win. Sunderland takes over the bottom spot on the table after dropping their match against Stoke City.

Moving forward, there is little chance that Crystal Palace will make a ton of noise in the Premier League. They might be able to play spoiler against middle-of-the-road teams looking to make a move up the table, but don't expect them to compete against the league's top squads.

Cardiff City Hangs With Manchester United

This 2-2 draw was mired by a bit of controversy as Wayne Rooney probably should not have been allowed to play after kicking Jordon Mutch from behind in the seventh minute. Instead of a red card, Rooney was penalized with a yellow card.

Rooney ended up scoring a goal for Manchester United, as did Patrice Evra. Fraizer Campbell and substitute Kim Bo-Kyung scored for Cardiff City.

Manchester was playing without their best defender—Nemanja Vidic—and leading scorer—Robin Van Persie. While this didn't necessarily give the much weaker Cardiff City team the advantage, it certainly didn't make it any harder for them. 

It's unfair to play the "what if" game, but Cardiff City may have won this match had Rooney gotten the red card he deserved. Regardless, Cardiff City deserves credit for at least hanging with Manchester.

Manchester City Dominates Tottenham

Tottenham, the No. 9 team on the Premier League table, had no answer for Manchester City on Sunday, allowing them to net six goals. Tottenham generally boasts a solid defense, but their performance in this one was far from solid.

Sergio Aguero led the charge for Manchester City, scoring two goals. He showed no problems picking apart Tottenham's defense. Jesus Navas, Alvaro Negredo and Sandro were the other goalscorers for Manchester City.

The 6-0 defeat is the worst for Tottenham since a 6-1 loss in 1998 against Chelsea, and Manchester City benefited from this historically poor performance by increasing their league-leading goal differential to plus-21.

The fact that Tottenham boasts a strong defense and is an overall strong club makes it surprising that Manchester City was able to completely dominate them from start to finish.