Barclays Under-21 Premier League 2015 Table: Latest Scores and Standings
Southampton failed to go top of the Under-21 Development League standings on Monday after suffering a 3-2 defeat at Sunderland that leaves them in fourth, five points below leaders Manchester United, who beat West Ham on Tuesday.
Chelsea and Tottenham played out a 0-0 draw, leaving Spurs five points off the top themselves.
The race is heating up in Division 2 as well, with Middlesbrough thus far managing to fend off Derby County's assault on the summit. However, a 4-1 win for Arsenal on Tuesday adds some extra spice to the hunt.
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Read on for a breakdown of this week's latest results, along with a look at the latest standings in both divisions.
| Monday, April 6 | Sunderland | 3-2 | Southampton |
| Monday, April 6 | Chelsea | 0-0 | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Tuesday, April 7 | Manchester United | 3-2 | West Ham United |
| Tuesday, April 7 | Liverpool | 1-2 | Fulham |
| Tuesday, April 7 | Arsenal | 4-1 | Stoke City |
| Tuesday, April 7 | Newcastle United | 0-1 | Middlesbrough |
| Tuesday, April 7 | Reading | 1-0 | Brighton |
| Wednesday, April 8 | Wolves | 0-1 | Aston Villa |
| 1 | Man Utd U21 | 17 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 28 | 18 | 10 | 30 |
| 2 | Liverpool U21 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 29 | 21 | 8 | 26 |
| 3 | Spurs U21 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 23 | 20 | 3 | 25 |
| 4 | Leicester U21 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 31 | 30 | 1 | 25 |
| 5 | Southampton U21 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 28 | 27 | 1 | 25 |
| 6 | Norwich U21 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 25 | 24 | 1 | 25 |
| 7 | Man City U21 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 31 | 27 | 4 | 23 |
| 8 | Chelsea U21 | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 25 | 19 | 6 | 22 |
| 9 | Sunderland U21 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 21 | 24 | -3 | 22 |
| 10 | Fulham U21 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 25 | 34 | -9 | 22 |
| 11 | Everton U21 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 24 | 25 | -1 | 20 |
| 12 | West Ham U21 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 35 | -21 | 11 |
| 1 | Middlesbrough U21 | 18 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 27 | 19 | +8 | 38 |
| 2 | Derby County U21 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 33 | 18 | +15 | 33 |
| 3 | Reading U21 | 16 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 31 | 27 | +4 | 29 |
| 4 | Arsenal U21 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 27 | 14 | +13 | 28 |
| 5 | Newcastle Unit… | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 35 | 27 | +8 | 26 |
| 6 | West Bromwich … | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 29 | 24 | +5 | 26 |
| 7 | Aston Villa U21 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 18 | 29 | -11 | 21 |
| 8 | Bolton Wandere… | 18 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 24 | 26 | -2 | 18 |
| 9 | Brighton & Hov… | 18 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 21 | -6 | 17 |
| 10 | Stoke City U21 | 17 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 20 | 36 | -13 | 17 |
| 11 | Blackburn Rove… | 18 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 19 | 26 | -7 | 15 |
| 12 | Wolverhampton U21 | 18 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 18 | 29 | -11 | 11 |
Wednesday Recap
Aston Villa ran out narrow winners in Wednesday's only Division 2 action, the Midlands outfit travelling to Molineux and picking up a 1-0 victory over Wolves.
To the delight of all Villa fans, striker Libor Kozak returned to action after 14 months out with a broken leg, the 25-year-old managing to play 67 minutes of a close contest:
Kozak looked in decent nick, especially considering how long he's been out for. He forced a save in the second half, but it was Jerell Sellars who made the telling contribution.
Sellars illuminated proceedings in the 20th minute, as he skipped past several Wolves players before firing a terrific effort past keeper Aaron McCarey and into the back of the net.
It was to be the only goal of the match despite the best efforts of the lively Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, who struck the woodwork soon after the opener and threatened on several occasions.
Villa's defence held firm despite Wolves' improvements after the break, and the visitors saw out a 1-0 win.
Wolves stay at the bottom of Division 2, still with just the one victory all season, while Villa move above Bolton into seventh.
Tuesday Recap
Jack Wilshere, Abou Diaby and Mikel Arteta were all in action for Arsenal under21s on Tuesday evening as the Gunners claimed a 4-1 victory over Stoke City, climbing to fourth in the standings as a result.
The senior stars aided the north Londoners in claiming a much-needed win in their bid for promotion from Division 2, but it was teenager Alex Iwobi who impressed most, clinching a sensational hat-trick against the Potters:
The nephew of former Nigeria international Jay Jay Okocha has been dazzling for Arsenal's youth ranks in recent months and really rose to the occasion, although the Gunners remain 10 points off leaders Middlesbrough.
That's after the Teesside outfit beat Newcastle United 1-0 at St. James' Park thanks to Emmanuel Ledesma's seventh-minute free kick, per the Magpies' official Twitter account:
Arsenal have a substantial three games in hand compared to Boro, but the northeast pioneers will revel in their success, pleased to have handed Newcastle a second derby this week defeat following their senior side's 1-0 loss to Sunderland on Sunday.
In Division 1, Manchester United maintained their lead at the top of the Development League with a narrow 3-2 win over West Ham United thanks to Josh Harrop's brace, per the Red Devils' official Twitter account:
The east London visitors did manage to open up a lead thanks to Reece Oxford's header, but Harrop and Joe Rothwell each helped overturn that deficit to keep steering toward the league title.
United were also buoyed to hear of Liverpool's demise earlier in the day as they fell to Fulham 2-1 at home, extending the Red Devils' cushion at the summit to four points.
