Premier League Table: Updated 2015 EPL Standings Following Matchday 34 Results

Chelsea’s date with Premier League glory seems to be a mere inevitability as Arsenal failed to postpone their title party plans when they welcomed their London rivals to the Emirates, contesting a goalless draw.

And Manchester United failed to take a great opportunity to move into second place in the EPL as they fell 3-0 to Everton on Merseyside. 

On Saturday, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur played out an entertaining 2-2 draw to kickstart the day. Leicester City also picked up a crucial three points, as they secured a vital victory against Burnley to move out of the relegation zone at Sunderland's expense; the Black Cats could only draw 1-1 at Stoke City.

Read on for updates from this weekend’s Premier League fixtures and a look at how the results have affected the overall standings.

Date	Time	Home	Result	Away
Saturday, April 25	12:45 p.m. BST/7:45 a.m. ET	Southampton	2-2	Tottenham Hotspur
Saturday, April 25	3 p.m. BST/10 a.m. ET	Burnley	0-1	Leicester City
Saturday, April 25	3 p.m. BST/10 a.m. ET	Crystal Palace	0-2	Hull City
Saturday, April 25	3 p.m. BST/10 a.m. ET	Newcastle United	2-3	Swansea City
Saturday, April 25	3 p.m. BST/10 a.m. ET	QPR	0-0	West Ham United
Saturday, April 25	3 p.m. BST/10 a.m. ET	Stoke City	1-1	Sunderland
Saturday, April 25	3 p.m. BST/10 a.m. ET	West Brom	0-0	Liverpool
Saturday, April 25	5:30 p.m. BST/12:30 p.m. ET	Manchester City	3-2	Aston Villa
Sunday, April 26	1:30 p.m. BST/8:30 a.m. ET	Everton	3-0	Manchester United
Sunday, April 26	4 p.m. BST/11 a.m. ET	Arsenal	0-0	Chelsea

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea	33	23	8	2	65	26	39	77
2	Man City	34	20	7	7	70	36	34	67
3	Arsenal	33	20	7	6	63	32	31	67
4	Man Utd	34	19	8	7	59	34	25	65
5	Liverpool	33	17	7	9	47	36	11	58
6	Spurs	34	17	7	10	55	49	6	58
7	Southampton	34	17	6	11	47	26	21	57
8	Swansea	34	14	8	12	41	44	-3	50
9	Stoke	34	13	8	13	39	42	-3	47
10	Everton	34	11	11	12	44	43	1	44
11	West Ham	34	11	11	12	42	42	0	44
12	C Palace	34	11	9	14	42	47	-5	42
13	West Brom	34	9	10	15	32	46	-14	37
14	Newcastle	34	9	8	17	36	57	-21	35
15	Aston Villa	34	8	8	18	26	48	-22	32
16	Hull	33	7	10	16	31	45	-14	31
17	Leicester	33	8	7	18	35	51	-16	31
18	Sunderland	33	5	15	13	26	49	-23	30
19	QPR	34	7	6	21	38	59	-21	27
20	Burnley	34	5	11	18	26	52	-26	26

Sunday Recap

Rui Vieira/Associated Press

Arsenal failed in their attempts to cut the gap on Chelsea at the top of the Premier League, as the teams drew 0-0 at the Emirates.

Although goalless, the first half was fraught with incidents as compelling penalty decisions were waved away by the officials.

Oscar was twice fouled in the box with clear contact—but Jose Mourinho was left disappointed as Arsenal survived without punishment.

Match of the Day's Gary Lineker was critical of referee Michael Oliver's decision as Oscar was left on the floor, poleaxed by Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina:

But the Gunners also had a good shout turned down after a shot hit Gary Cahill's arm as he went to block, with the referee once again dismissing vehement claims, this time from Arsene Wenger and company.

The second half was a much more strained affair than the first—as both teams opted for caution rather than entertainment. The Special One decided to bring on Didier Drogba during the break after starting the tie without a striker, but the Ivorian failed to make a huge impact.

The Gunners pushed for a winner late in the match, as Chelsea began to soak up possession and territory, but Wenger's men were swamped by Mourinho's defensive tactics.

Arsenal continued to push forward, introducing Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott, but were unable to find the strike to beat Thibaut Courtois. 

The draw sees Chelsea maintain a 10-point gap at the top of the table with just five matches of their campaign remaining. 

Jon Super/Associated Press

Everton shocked Louis van Gaal on Sunday, as the Dutchman watched his Manchester United side collapse 3-0 at Goodison Park.

The Toffees employed their counterpunch tactics to perfection as United looked mentally deflated after their recent defeat at Chelsea.

The home side took an early fifth-minute lead through a quick breakaway, as midfielder James McCarthy skipped through the Reds defence and fired past goalkeeper David De Gea.

United dominated much of the match with the ball at their feet but failed to attain the tempo needed to unlock Everton, with Roberto Martinez's side working hard throughout.

Jon Super/Associated Press

Everton doubled their advantage 10 minutes before the break, as John Stones headed in from a corner. Antonio Valencia failed to track the run of the centre-back, and the England international expertly directed his effort on target.

The second half continued very much like the first, with United dominating possession but clearly missing injured midfielder Michael Carrick. Daley Blind struggled as his replacement.

The Toffees killed off the match as a contest in the 74th minute, as substitute forward Kevin Mirallas found the bottom corner after a late run from deep, outfoxing Valencia and defender Chris Smalling.

Smalling was clearly disappointed after the tie, speaking with MUTV about his side's lack of intensity:

The win sees Everton move up to third in the EPL form guide and 10th in the table, winning five of their last six league games.

Saturday Recap

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

Former Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino could only take a point from the home of his old club, as Spurs battled back from behind twice to secure a 2-2 draw.

Graziano Pelle put Saints ahead on two separate occasions, but goals from Erik Lamela and Nacer Chadli ensured the Londoners took a share of the spoils in this clash between two very evenly matched sides.

As we can see here courtesy of Squawka Football, after a tough run of form in recent weeks, Pelle looked back to his rumbustious best in this match:

In the later games, it was all about getting the points needed to stay in the Premier League, and it was a dramatic afternoon of twists and turns.

Burnley were left to rue their profligacy in front of goal, as Leicester City picked up their fourth win in succession with a narrow 1-0 win at Turf Moor.

Matt Taylor spurned the chance to put the Clarets in front, hitting the post with his penalty. To compound the agony, the Foxes went down the other end and went 1-0 up seconds later courtesy of Jamie Vardy.

The visitors were in control for the majority of the game, but still required some stunning saves from Kasper Schmeichel to keep their clean sheet intact. It's a win that moves Nigel Pearson's men out of the relegation zone, and they seem to have the momentum required to stave off relegation.

Sunderland entered the bottom three at the Foxes' expense after their 1-1 draw at Stoke City. The Black Cats made the best possible start after Connor Wickham opened the scoring for the visitors inside the opening minute.

As we can see here courtesy of OptaJoe, the striker seems to be coming into a bit of form at a perfect time:

But the Potters responded well through their own man in form, Charlie Adam. The midfielder hit a sensational strike to level things up, and although Sunderland put plenty of pressure on in the second half, they were unable to get past Asmir Begovic and are subsequently consigned to the bottom three.

Queens Park Rangers will feel they missed a brilliant opportunity to make up ground in their survival effort, as they could only draw 0-0 at home with West Ham United.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

Charlie Austin had the chance to put the home side into lead in the first half with a penalty, but his effort was saved by Adrian. As we can see, the Spaniard has developed something of a penchant for stopping opponents from 12 yards: 

Dame N'Doye's second-half brace moved Hull City clear of the relegation zone, as they secured a tremendous 2-0 win against Crystal Palace. 

With a testing run-in looming, this was always going to be an important game at Selhurst Park for the Tigers. But Steve Bruce's men rose to the occasion to turn in a cohesive performance against Alan Pardew's in-form side.

Newcastle United's recent misery continued, as they suffered a seventh defeat in a row after being beaten 3-2 by Swansea City. 

Scott Heppell/Associated Press

The Magpies went ahead after an early strike from Ayoze Perez, but as the Welsh outfit grew into the game, they were far too good for the hosts. Nelson Oliveira, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jack Cork were able to capitalise on Swansea's dominance. Siem de Jong netted a late consolation for the hosts.

The game stirred more angry reactions from the home crowd, per Lee Ryder of The Chronicle:

At the Hawthorns, Liverpool were unable to put pressure on Manchester City in the race for the Champions League spots, as they played out a moribund stalemate with West Bromwich Albion.

In the day’s late game, Fernandinho scored a dramatic late winner for Manchester City in a 3-2 victory over Aston Villa, pushing Manuel Pellegrini’s men back to second place in the table.

Jon Super/Associated Press

Goals from Sergio Aguero and Aleksandar Kolarov put the champions 2-0 in front, but Villa responded superbly, with Tom Cleverley and an 84th minute equaliser from Carlos Sanchez seemingly salvaging a point for the visitors. But the Brazilian struck in the dying embers to snatch the points for the hosts.

City were handed the best possible start to this one after Brad Guzan’s terrible error left Aguero with a simple tap-in. As noted by James Ducker of The Times, the Argentine won’t score an easier goal in his career:

There was nothing lucky about City’s second goal, though. The match was actually pretty even following the American’s early aberration, but Kolarov put daylight between the two sides with a sublime free-kick from 25 yards in the 66th minute.

Jon Super/Associated Press

But credit to Villa, who came roaring back into the contest. Just a couple of minutes after Kolarov’s goal, Cleverley made it 2-1 with a tidy finish from the edge of the box, prompting some heavy pressure from the buoyant visitors. With the final whistle edging closer, they got the goal their fightback deserved.

It was Sanchez who finished well with a volley after a weak punch from Joe Hart, sending the Villa fans into raptures behind the goal. As noted by WhoScored.com, it was the Colombian's first goal for the Midlands club:

That strike seemed to awaken City, who had a penalty appeal turned down immediately after losing the second. Villa also had a chance to win it, but Christian Benteke was flagged offside in controversial circumstances.

Jon Super/Associated Press

But with a minute to go in the game they were back in front, as Fernandinho reacted quickest in a goalmouth scramble, controlling the ball on his chest before volleying home athletically. The relief on the faces of those in sky blue in the stands and on the pitch was there for all to see.