EPL Results Week 21: Premier League Scores, Top Scorers and 2015 Table Tracker
Having joined Chelsea at the top of the Premier League table with their win over Sunderland on New Year's Day, Manchester City could only draw 1-1 away at Everton on Saturday.
Jose Mourinho's men took advantage of City's slip, picking up a win of their own—beating Newcastle 2-0 at Stamford Bridge—and the Blues now sit alone in top spot, two points clear of Manuel Pellegrini's side.
Bottom-of-the-table Leicester claimed a second league win in three matches as they beat Aston Villa 1-0 while Burnley condemned fellow strugglers QPR to their 10th straight away loss of the season.
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Here is the full updated schedule from Week 21 in the Premier League:
| Date | Time | Fixture | Result |
| Saturday, January 10 | 12:45 p.m. (GMT) / 7:45 a.m. (ET) | Sunderland vs. Liverpool | 0-1 |
| Saturday, January 10 | 3 p.m. (GMT) / 10 a.m. (ET) | Burnley vs. Queens Park Rangers | 2-1 |
| Saturday. January 10 | 3 p.m. (GMT) / 10 a.m. (ET) | Chelsea vs. Newcastle United | 2-0 |
| Saturday, January 10 | 3 p.m. (GMT) / 10 a.m. (ET) | Everton vs. Manchester City | 1-1 |
| Saturday, January 10 | 3 p.m. (GMT) / 10 a.m. (ET) | Leicester City vs. Aston Villa | 1-0 |
| Saturday, January 10 | 3 p.m. (GMT) / 10 a.m. (ET) | Swansea City vs. West Ham United | 1-1 |
| Saturday, January 10 | 3 p.m. (GMT) / 10 a.m. (ET) | West Bromwich Albion vs. Hull City | 1-0 |
| Saturday, January 10 | 5:30 p.m. (GMT) / 12:30 p.m. (ET) | Crystal Palace vs. Tottenham Hotspur | 2-1 |
| Sunday, January 11 | 1:30 p.m. (GMT) / 8:30 a.m. (ET) | Arsenal vs. Stoke City | 3-0 |
| Sunday, January 11 | 4 p.m. (GMT) / 11 a.m. (ET) | Manchester United vs. Southampton | 0-1 |
And here are the league standings and top scorers:
| # | Team | Pl | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Chelsea | 21 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 46 | 19 | 27 | 49 |
| 2 | Man City | 21 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 45 | 20 | 25 | 47 |
| 3 | Southampton | 21 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 35 | 15 | 20 | 39 |
| 4 | Manchester United | 21 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 34 | 21 | 13 | 37 |
| Arsenal | 21 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 37 | 25 | 12 | 36 | |
| 5 | Tottenham | 21 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 30 | 29 | 1 | 34 |
| 7 | West Ham | 21 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 32 | 25 | 7 | 33 |
| 8 | Liverpool | 21 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 29 | 27 | 2 | 32 |
| 9 | Swansea | 21 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 26 | 25 | 1 | 30 |
| 10 | Newcastle | 21 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 25 | 33 | -8 | 27 |
| 11 | Stoke | 21 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 22 | 27 | -5 | 26 |
| 12 | Everton | 21 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 30 | 34 | -4 | 22 |
| 13 | A Villa | 21 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 23 | -12 | 22 |
| 14 | W Brom | 21 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 20 | 29 | -9 | 21 |
| 15 | C Palace | 21 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 22 | 31 | -9 | 20 |
| 16 | S'land | 21 | 3 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 31 | -13 | 20 |
| 17 | Burnley | 21 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 19 | 33 | -14 | 20 |
| 18 | Hull City | 21 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 20 | 27 | -7 | 19 |
| 19 | QPR | 21 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 23 | 37 | -14 | 19 |
| 20 | Leicester | 21 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 20 | 33 | -13 | 17 |
| Position | Player | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Diego Costa | Chelsea | 15 |
| 2 | Sergio Aguero | Manchester City | 14 |
| 3 | Charlie Austin | Queens Park Rangers | 13 |
| 4 | Alexis Sanchez | Arsenal | 12 |
| T5 | Saido Berahino | West Bromwich Albion | 9 |
| T5 | Wilfried Bony | Swansea City | 9 |
| T5 | Papiss Demba Cisse | Newcastle United | 9 |
| T8 | Eden Hazard | Chelsea | 8 |
| T8 | Graziano Pelle | Southampton | 8 |
| T8 | Wayne Rooney | Manchester United | 8 |
Saturday Recap
Only last month, Chelsea took a trip up to St. James' Park and lost 2-1 against Newcastle, their first defeat of the season.
On Saturday, they hosted the same Newcastle side in west London—without the recently departed Alan Pardew—as the Blues looked to avenge said loss and return to winning ways after a 5-3 defeat to Tottenham last time out in the league.
The Magpies started the better side but failed to convert a string of early chances, per The Guardian's Jacob Steinberg, and they would pay for their lack of clinical play in the final third:
The Blues were the ones to break the deadlock, with Oscar scoring with their first shot on target just before half-time, per B/R UK, and Diego Costa confirming the victory with his 15th goal of the season as he finished off a superb team move just before the hour:
At Goodison Park, neither goal was breached until Fernandinho put City 1-0 up in the 74th minute, and Everton were heading for their fifth consecutive league loss.
However, the Toffees picked up a much-deserved point, per BBC Sport's Phil McNulty, when Steven Naismith glanced a header home soon after City's goal, and Roberto Martinez's side showed improvement after a poor run of performances:
City, on the other hand, will no doubt be kicking themselves for slipping back from Chelsea just days after they had impressively joined the Blues at the table's summit.
Leicester City continued their fine run of form of late with their 1-0 win over a poor Villa side, with an impressive Paul Konchesky volley in first-half stoppage time proving enough for all three points.
It was a third win in four in all competitions for Nigel Pearson's men, but the Foxes are still three points from safety while Paul Lambert's side continue to underwhelm, per football writer Miguel Delaney:
"Are this Villa the least interesting, dullest team in Premier League history? Leicester 1994-95 also "up there".
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) January 10, 2015"
It was a good day for new bosses, as Pardew claimed his maiden league win in charge of Crystal Palace—his side coming from behind to beat Spurs 2-1—while Tony Pulis took his new West Brom side to a 1-0 win over Hull City.
Harry Kane was on the scoresheet once again for Spurs as he opened proceedings at Selhurst Park, but Mauricio Pochettino's men failed to kick on for the win, with a Dwight Gayle penalty and Jason Puncheon strike handing Pardew an invaluable three points.
For the Baggies, Saido Berahino was on target for his ninth league goal of the season, and Hull moved into the relegation zone come the end of Saturday's fixtures.
Liverpool picked up a key away win in the early kick-off on Saturday as they beat Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light, and the Reds are moving in the right direction as they aim for a top-four finish.
Summer-signing Lazar Markovic scored the opener—and eventual winner—inside 10 minutes, with the youngster bagging a terrific goal as the Black Cats were condemned to a third league loss in four matches.
West Ham's streak without a win stretched to four matches as they drew 1-1 to Swansea, as Andy Carroll's first-half opener was cancelled out by Mark Noble's own goal 15 minutes from time.
Sunday sees third play fourth as Manchester United host Southampton while Stoke visit an Arsenal side that they beat 3-2 in December.
Sunday Recap
Sunday saw two fierce Premier League encounters take centre stage, as Arsenal welcomed Stoke City to the Emirates Stadium before Manchester United took on Southampton.
In the day’s early kick-off, the Gunners ran riot against a lacklustre Stoke side, with Chilean sensation Alexis Sanchez at the goals once again in a 3-0 victory.
The 26-year-old added a brace to Laurent Koscielny’s sixth-minute opener, which he assisted, and in doing so officially became the Premier League’s most effective player in front of goal.
As WhoScored.com’s statistics show, Sanchez has contributed to more than half of Arsenal’s league goals this season, with 19:
That much is impressive enough, but Sky Sports also revealed that he’s leapfrogged Chelsea’s Diego Costa and Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero in the Premier League’s goal involvement table:
It just goes to show that the Chile international has the full package.
His cross for Koscielny’s opener was pin-point accurate, and it set the tone for the entire afternoon, as the Potters simply couldn’t handle him.
The first of his two goals was something special, too, cutting in from the left wing before slamming the ball inside Asmir Begovic’s near post.
That strike led Newcastle United player Adam Campbell to tweet that Sanchez’s talent defies belief:
He’s not wrong, either, as the forward had lots of pressure on his shoulders thanks to his big-money move from Barcelona in the summer, but he’s more than lived up to his billing.
Sanchez’s second goal was a little fortuitous, with Begovic bundling in the Arsenal man’s free-kick, but it was nothing more than he deserved after another sublime performance.
Following the match, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger praised Sanchez, labelling him one of the best players around—via BBC Sport's Adam Williams.
"Alexis Sanchez is one of the best players," Wenger said. "He's a fighter with a combination of talent and fighting spirit which is very difficult to find. He plays with passion and you want people to enjoy what they're doing on the pitch and show it as well."
So, it seems the millions spent in the transfer window are paying off for Wenger, but the same can’t be said for Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal.
Fourth-placed Southampton travelled to Old Trafford knowing that a victory would lift them above the Red Devils in the table, and that’s exactly what they did courtesy of a 1-0 win.
United lined up without Radamel Falcao in the matchday squad, which raised plenty of questions before kick-off, and there will likely be even more after a tame performance.
The front line of Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Angel di Maria and Juan Mata simply didn’t get going, and when Dusan Tadic put the Saints ahead on 69 minutes, it looked to be one of those days for United.
The Serbian rolled the ball home after Graziano Pelle saw his effort rebound off the post before stripping off in celebration—much to the amusement of Gary Lineker:
The Old Trafford strike was his third league goal of the season, but none has been as important, as Southampton moved up to third in the table.
Manchester United now need to bounce back and find a way back to form, but their trip to struggling QPR next week gives them the perfect opportunity to do just that.
