EPL Results Week 16: Premier League Scores, Top Scorers and 2014 Table Tracker
League-leaders Chelsea returned to their winning ways in Week 16, beating Hull City 2-0 on Saturday. Diego Costa ended his dry spell with a second-half goal, and the Spain international will have a chance to overtake the injured Sergio Aguero in the Premier League's top scorer standings in the coming weeks.
Burnley caused the upset of the matchday, beating Southampton 1-0, while Manchester City held on for a close win by the same score over Leicester City. Here are the full results for Week 16:
| Saturday, Dec. 13 | Burnley | 1 - 0 | Southampton |
| Saturday, Dec. 13 | Chelsea | 2 - 0 | Hull City |
| Saturday, Dec. 13 | Crystal Palace | 1 - 1 | Stoke City |
| Saturday, Dec. 13 | Leicester City | 0 - 1 | Manchester City |
| Saturday, Dec. 13 | Sunderland | 1 - 1 | West Ham United |
| Saturday, Dec. 13 | West Bromwich Albion | 1 - 0 | Aston Villa |
| Saturday, Dec. 13 | Arsenal | 4 - 1 | Newcastle United |
| Sunday, Dec. 14 | Manchester United | 3 - 0 | Liverpool |
| Sunday, Dec. 14 | Swansea City | 1 - 2 | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Monday, Dec. 15 | Everton | 3 - 1 | Queens Park Rangers |
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The current Premier League standings:
| 1 | Chelsea | 16 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 36 | 13 | 23 | 39 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 33 | 14 | 19 | 36 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 16 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 29 | 17 | 12 | 31 |
| 4 | West Ham United | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 27 | 19 | 8 | 28 |
| 5 | Southampton | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 25 | 13 | 12 | 26 |
| 6 | Arsenal | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 28 | 19 | 9 | 26 |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 20 | 22 | -2 | 24 |
| 8 | Newcastle United | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 18 | 22 | -4 | 23 |
| 9 | Swansea City | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 21 | 19 | 2 | 22 |
| 10 | Everton | 16 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 27 | 24 | 3 | 21 |
| 11 | Liverpool | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 19 | 22 | -3 | 21 |
| 12 | Stoke City | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 18 | 21 | -3 | 19 |
| 13 | Aston Villa | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 20 | -10 | 19 |
| 14 | West Bromwich Albion | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 20 | -5 | 17 |
| 15 | Sunderland | 16 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 14 | 24 | -10 | 16 |
| 16 | Crystal Palace | 16 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 19 | 24 | -5 | 15 |
| 17 | Burnley | 16 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 24 | -13 | 15 |
| 18 | Queens Park Rangers | 16 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 17 | 30 | -13 | 14 |
| 19 | Hull City | 16 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 23 | -8 | 13 |
| 20 | Leicester City | 16 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 27 | -12 | 10 |
The Premier League's top scorers:
| 1 | Sergio Aguero | Man. City | 14 |
| 2 | Diego Costa | Chelsea | 12 |
| 3 | Alexis Sanchez | Arsenal | 9 |
| 4 | Charlie Austin | QPR | 8 |
| 4 | Wilfried Bony | Swansea | 8 |
| 5 | Papiss Cisse | Newcastle | 7 |
| 5 | Saido Berahino | West Brom | 7 |
| 5 | Diafra Sakho | West Ham | 7 |
| 5 | Graziano Pelle | Southampton | 7 |
| 5 | Robin van Persie | Manchester United | 7 |
Everton bagged a 3-1 win over Queens Park Rangers to finish Week 16 of the 2014-15 Premier League season, although Monday night's fixture ended on a sour note, as Kevin Mirallas was stretchered off the pitch in injury time.
Ross Barkley opened the score with a golazo, blasting a strike past Rob Green and just inside the near post. Replays showed the ball took a slight deflection off Mauricio Isla, but that didn't take away from the spectacular effort. Former England international Gary Lineker agreed:
"There's a special Xmas treat, right there, from Ross Barkley!
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) December 15, 2014"
Mirallas doubled the Toffees' advantage just before half-time, and Green was beaten by another deflection. The Belgian's free-kick changed direction at the wall, completely wrong-footing the unfortunate goalkeeper.
He was at fault for the hosts' third goal, however, as a bad free-kick found its way to Steven Naismith, left completely unmarked to head home at the far post. Per Squawka Football, Monday's performance was right in line with QPR's abysmal record away from home this season:
Bobby Zamora was able to score a consolation goal inside the final 10 minutes, opening his account for this season from close range. The match lost all momentum, but the home fans were rudely awaken in injury time, as Mirallas stayed down after a rough tackle from Jordon Mutch.
The Belgium international was in obvious pain and couldn't leave the pitch on his own strength, via Sky Sports MNF:
The injury was the sole black spot on an otherwise flawless performance that sees the hosts close the gap with the European spots to just five points and climb above Merseyside rivals Liverpool in the Premier League standings.
QPR still sit in the relegation zone, and unless their struggles away from home disappear in the second half of the season, Rangers could be on their way back to the Championship after just a single campaign in the top division of English football.
David De Gea was the hero in Manchester United's 3-1 win over Liverpool on Sunday, stonewalling Raheem Sterling and Mario Balotelli with a number of spectacular saves.
Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Robin van Persie took care of the scoring for the hosts, who have now won six straight Premier League matches. The captain sent Brad Jones diving the wrong way after just 12 minutes, a goal the Daily Telegraph's Henry Winters thoroughly enjoyed:
Juan Mata doubled United's advantage near the end of the first half, although replays showed the Spain international was well offside, via Sky Sports football:
Liverpool had their chances to pull one back, but De Gea was simply couldn't be beat on Sunday. The Spain international was masterful, once again underlining his credentials as one of the world's best goalkeepers.
Van Persie added a third goal on the counter-attack to put the match to bed, heaping even more pressure on the shoulders of Reds manager Brendan Rodgers.
Tottenham needed another last-minute goal from Christian Eriksen to beat Swansea City 2-1 and continue their bid for a finish among the Europa League spots.
Harry Kane had opened the score after just four minutes with a powerful header, and after the match, he couldn't believe his club pulled out another buzzer-beater win on the road, per Spurs' official Twitter feed:
Wilfried Bony equalised early in the second half, and after 45 minutes of back-and-forth action, Eriksen created some space at the top of the box before slotting home at the near post to give his side the three points.
Olivier Giroud bagged himself a brace in Arsenal's 4-1 win over Newcastle United, taking the Gunners' record to three wins in the last four matches.
As shared by OptaJoe, the France international has found plenty of success against the Magpies in the past:
Jose Mourinho's men bounced back from their defeat against Newcastle last weekend, with a 2-0 victory against Hull City.
Belgium international Eden Hazard opened the score after just seven minutes, timing his run beautifully to convert Oscar's cross with his head. The pint-sized winger isn't known for his contributions inside the box on crosses, as shared by the league's official Twitter feed:
The Blues hung back in the first half and didn't put a lot of pressure on Hull's back four, and the match was marred by a series of dives. Costa and Willian were both booked for simulating, and Gary Cahill should have suffered the same fate, already carrying a yellow card.
Instead, it was Tom Huddlestone who (deservedly) received his marching orders for a lunge on Filipe Luis, making the Tigers' bid to grab some points from Stamford Bridge even harder. Minutes later, Hazard set up Costa, who calmly finished in the far corner.
As shared by Squawka Football, the goal ended a bit of a drought for the Spaniard:
The Blues comfortably held on for the 2-0 win from that point.
Manchester City, who were already without Sergio Aguero, lost Edin Dzeko to injury during the warming up. That left the Citizens with 18-year-old Jose Angel Pozo to lead the attack, and predictably, the team struggled to create chances against Leicester City.
Ultimately, it was veteran and on-loan midfielder Frank Lampard who broke the deadlock late in the first half, scoring his 175th Premier League goal to tie Thierry Henry for fourth most in the league's history, according to ESPN FC:
It's no wonder manager Manuel Pellegrini is hopeful he can prolong the loan deal for the former England international until the end of the season, as reported by Manchester Evening News' James Robson:
"Asked if wanted the former England international to extend his stay, Pellegrini said: “Of course. He’s a very important player for us and we need him in this moment.
I hope we can have a decision as soon as possible because it’s important for us and the players.
Before December finishes we will have a decision but I think Frank is a very important player for us and I hope we will not have any problems for him to stay here.
But I cannot say just from one side what will happen with him.
"
Lampard's goal would be the only one in the match, as the Citizens held on for a 1-0 win.
Burnley caused the upset of the day by beating Southampton 1-0, courtesy of a goal from Ashley Barnes inside the final 20 minutes. The Saints have come back down to Earth in recent weeks after a hot start to the season, but Saturday's result has to rank as their most disappointing yet.
Dusan Tadic had the chance to get his team back on track after an hour, missing a penalty, per the league's official Twitter feed:
Craig Gardner scored the only goal in West Bromwich Albion's 1-0 win over Aston Villa, a match in which the hosts were greatly aided by a straight red card for Kieran Richardson in the first half.
The 30-year-old was dismissed after just 22 minutes for a studs-up tackle, marking the second fastest dismissal of the season, according to OptaJoe:
Crystal Palace and Stoke City shared the spoils after a 1-1 draw, and Sunderland and West Ham United battled to the same score.
Manchester United and Liverpool will resume their heated rivalry on Sunday.
