EPL Results Week 31: Premier League Scores, Top Scorers and 2015 Table Tracker
Arsenal climbed to second in the Premier League on Saturday as Arsene Wenger's men ran to a 4-1 demolition over Champions League hopefuls Liverpool, while Chelsea beat Stoke City to maintain stride at the summit.
The Gunners struck three times in eight minutes to claim a 3-0 half-time lead against the Reds, a deficit from which Brendan Rodgers' side were unable to come back.
Manchester United also did their European hopes a service after beating Aston Villa at Old Trafford, but defeat at Goodison Park means Southampton's recent slump lingers on.
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Read on for a full breakdown of Week 31's results and latest scores, along with recap of all the weekend's highlights thus far.
| Saturday, April 4 | 12:45 p.m. BST/7:45 a.m. ET | Arsenal | 4 - 1 | Liverpool |
| Saturday, April 4 | 3 p.m. BST/10 a.m. ET | Everton | 1 - 0 | Southampton |
| Saturday, April 4 | 3 p.m. BST/10 a.m. ET | Leicester City | 2 - 1 | West Ham United |
| Saturday, April 4 | 3 p.m. BST/10 a.m. ET | Manchester United | 3 - 1 | Aston Villa |
| Saturday, April 4 | 3 p.m. BST/10 a.m. ET | Swansea City | 3 - 1 | Hull City |
| Saturday, April 4 | 3 p.m. BST/10 a.m. ET | West Brom | 1 - 4 | QPR |
| Saturday, April 4 | 5:30 p.m. BST/12:30 p.m. ET | Chelsea | 2 - 1 | Stoke City |
| Sunday, April 5 | 1:30 p.m. BST/8:30 a.m. ET | Burnley | 0-0 | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Sunday, April 5 | 4 p.m. BST/11 a.m. ET | Sunderland | 1-0 | Newcastle United |
| Monday, April 6 | 8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET | Crystal Palace | 2-1 | Manchester City |
| Tuesday, April 7 | 7:45 p.m. BST/2:45 p.m. ET | Aston Villa | vs. | QPR |
| 1 | Diego Costa | Chelsea | 19 |
| 2 | Harry Kane | Tottenham | 19 |
| 3 | Sergio Aguero | Mancester City | 17 |
| 4 | Charlie Austin | QPR | 15 |
| 5 | Olivier Giroud | Arsenal | 14 |
| 6 | Alexis Sanchez | Arsenal | 14 |
| 7 | Saido Berahino | West Brom | 12 |
| 8 | Wayne Rooney | Manchester United | 12 |
| 9 | Eden Hazard | Chelsea | 12 |
| 10 | Papiss Demba Cisse | Newcastle | 11 |
| 1 | Chelsea | 30 | 21 | 7 | 2 | 63 | 26 | +37 | 70 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 31 | 19 | 6 | 6 | 62 | 32 | +30 | 63 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 31 | 18 | 8 | 5 | 55 | 28 | +27 | 62 |
| 4 | Manchester City | 31 | 18 | 7 | 6 | 63 | 30 | +33 | 61 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 31 | 16 | 6 | 9 | 45 | 36 | +9 | 54 |
| 6 | Tottenham | 31 | 16 | 6 | 9 | 50 | 45 | +5 | 54 |
| 7 | Southampton | 31 | 16 | 5 | 10 | 42 | 22 | +20 | 53 |
| 8 | Swansea | 31 | 13 | 7 | 11 | 37 | 39 | -2 | 46 |
| 9 | West Ham | 31 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 41 | 39 | +2 | 42 |
| 10 | Stoke | 31 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 35 | 39 | -4 | 42 |
| 11 | Crystal Palace | 31 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 38 | 42 | -4 | |
| 12 | Everton | 31 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 39 | 42 | -3 | 37 |
| 13 | Newcastle United | 31 | 9 | 8 | 14 | 33 | 49 | -16 | 35 |
| 14 | West Bromwich Albion | 31 | 8 | 9 | 14 | 28 | 43 | -15 | 33 |
| 15 | Sunderland | 31 | 5 | 14 | 12 | 24 | 44 | -20 | 29 |
| 16 | Hull | 31 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 29 | 43 | -14 | 28 |
| 17 | Aston Villa | 31 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 20 | 42 | -22 | 28 |
| 18 | Burnley | 31 | 5 | 11 | 15 | 26 | 49 | -23 | 26 |
| 19 | Queens Park Rangers | 31 | 7 | 4 | 20 | 35 | 55 | -20 | 25 |
| 20 | Leicester | 30 | 5 | 7 | 18 | 29 | 49 | -20 | 22 |
Monday Recap
There is still time, but it's appearing less and less likely Manchester City will be able to catch Chelsea atop the Premier League table. Glenn Murray scored in the 34th minute and Jason Puncheon added another in the 48th, giving Crystal Palace a surprising 2-1 triumph over City at Selhurst Park.
"For us it was a huge night. You have the champions coming to your place knowing they're under pressure," Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew said, per The Associated Press (via the Boston Herald). "We didn't see enough of the ball really...but diligence, character, resilience was enough just to see us home."
Murray's goal will undoubtedly draw ire from City supporters. The Crystal Palace forward was seemingly offside before receiving the pass that would knock through the goal, though it went uncalled. City players vehemently argued the no-call to little avail, setting the tone for a match in which the defending champions looked rattled.
City held possession for 74 percent of the match and attempted 22 shots but found little success. Only four of their shots went on goal, and they went scoreless until Yaya Toure's goal in the 78th minute despite having 11 corner tries.
The loss all but drops City out of contention for a repeat championship. They're now two points behind ascending Arsenal for second place and a point behind rival Manchester United in third. With Chelsea still only having 31 matches under their belt, it'd take a miracle combined with an outright collapse for City to recover.
"Every time we drop points it's a big blow, especially at the end of the season," manager Manuel Pellegrini said, per The Associated Press. "But we must try to continue playing the way we did today."
The win for Crystal Palace move the former Premier League doormat into a solid 11th place. Pardew's appointment has become a godsend, as he's pushed his club away from the bottom of the table and near respectability.
Sunday Recap
The Premier League is undoubtedly famous for its glut of goals and exciting play, but Sunday's two games could only produce one strike in 180 minutes of football.
But Jermain Defoe's winner in the Tyne-Wear derby was good enough to grace any pitch on Earth, as the former Tottenham Hotspur icon won the match 1-0 for Sunderland against Newcastle.
Defoe beautifully caught the ball with his left foot, some 20 yards out, and smashed a looping volley into the top corner of Tim Krul's goal. The effort sparked scenes of delirium at the Stadium of Light, with Sunderland fans finally having a special moment to celebrate in a largely prostrate campaign.
The strike was the 32-year-old's third goal in 10 EPL matches since signing in the January transfer window, per Squawka.com, and he is likely to not ever score a more famous goal in the collective mind of Sunderland fans.
Football writer Daniel Storey was critical of Newcastle after their poor showing, and called for supporters to make a stand against the current regime:
In Sunday's other league game, Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur played out an uninspiring and lacklustre 0-0 draw, with the north London side all but surrendering their hopes of a Champions League finish.
Danny Ings was a constant thorn in the White Hart Lane team's side, with Harry Kane unable to match his recent form with a winning goal.
The draw sees Spurs move ahead of Southampton in the table, and level on points with Liverpool. Brendan Rodgers' side have a goal difference of plus-four better than Tottenham, and the race between the two clubs looks likely to go to the wire.
Saturday Recap
Eden Hazard was the star of the show for Chelsea on Saturday evening as Jose Mourinho's side emerged with a 2-1 win over Stoke, having gone in at the break drawing 1-1.
Thibaut Courtois was caught unaware as Charlie Adam equalised with a sensational 65-yard strike just a minute before the break, although Eurosport confirmed it as futile in the end:
Eden Hazard opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Philipp Wollscheid fouled Cesc Fabregas in the box, with Stoke stopper Asmir Begovic handing Loic Remy Chelsea's second.
Not for the first time recent months, this was a case of sealing the result first and foremost for the Blues, with Mourinho quoted by the official Premier League Twitter account as saying this was merely the next step on their road to the title:
A Gunners victory may have been expected in Saturday's early kick-off, but few may have predicted Arsenal would demolish Liverpool by a three-goal margin, even when considering the Reds' injury list.
Jordan Henderson converted a penalty consolation late on for the Reds, but goals from Hector Bellerin, Alexis Sanchez, Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil sealed maximum points for the hosts, with the latter expressing his joy on Twitter:
Ozil's performance was simply one of numerous star displays against the Merseysiders, who remain lodged in fifth but could fall behind Tottenham Hotspur should they win at Burnley on Sunday.
Arsenal weren't the only team in dazzling form on Saturday, though, and Manchester United were left feeling content after a 3-1 victory against Villa led them back to third in the standings:
Ander Herrera bagged a brace either side of Wayne Rooney's 79th-minute strike, with Christian Benteke's 80th-minute effort initially putting United's victory in some shade of doubt at 2-1.
After netting his fourth and fifth Premier League goals of the campaign, Herrera was quote by BBC Sport's Shamoon Hafez as being particularly upbeat regarding his form in front of goal:
The win is United's third in a row since exiting the FA Cup at Arsenal's hands last month, and Louis van Gaal will assuredly be pleased with how his troops have responded to that disappointment.
Liverpool boss Rodgers was at least pleased to learn of Southampton's 1-0 defeat at Everton on Saturday afternoon, where Eurosport confirmed Toffees goalkeeper Tim Howard as having a major influence on the score:
Newcastle United and Crystal Palace play Sunderland and Manchester City on Sunday and Monday, respectively, but Roberto Martinez's men will celebrate their climb to 11th for now, however temporary it may be.
Queens Park Rangers scored four goals in a league fixture for the first time this term on Saturday, battering West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns and breaking a trend in initiative, per OptaJoe:
Chris Ramsey's side were led by the likes of Charlie Austin, Eduardo Vargas and Niko Kranjcar to just their second away win in the league this season, climbing within one point of safety as a result.
Leicester City are doing their bit to keep the pressure up, however, after beating West Ham United 2-1, while Swansea City romped past Hull City 3-1.
David Meyler's second-half sending-off piled further misery on Steve Bruce's Tigers, who fell victim to a Bafetimbi Gomis masterclass as the Frenchman finished with two goals to his name.
