Premier League Table: Updated 2015 EPL Standings Following Matchday 36 Results

Marouane Fellaini scored a late winner for Manchester United on Matchday 36 of the 2014-15 Premier League season, as the Red Devils put some more distance between themselves and Liverpool in the standings by beating Crystal Palace 2-1.

And with the Anfield club failing to beat Chelsea on Sunday, United are all but guaranteed to finish in the top four—with a six point lead and superior goal difference—with just two games left to play. 

Matt Dunham/Associated Press

Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton continued their horrid form with losses in Week 36, as neither team seems particularly willing to play in next year's Europa League. Meanwhile, Aston Villa, Leicester City and Sunderland all won their matches, taking three big points in the battle against relegation.

Burnley became the first club to officially be relegated, despite beating Hull City 1-0. QPR will join Burnley in Championship next term after they were deconstructed by Manchester City, losing 6-0 at the home of the disposed champions.

Here's the full schedule and results for Week 36:

Date	Home	Score	Away
Saturday, May 9	Everton	0-2	Sunderland
Saturday, May 9	Aston Villa	1-0	West Ham
Saturday, May 9	Hull	0-1	Burnley
Saturday, May 9	Leicester	2-0	Southampton
Saturday, May 9	Newcastle	1-1	WBA
Saturday, May 9	Stoke	3-0	Spurs
Saturday, May 9	Crystal Palace	1-2	Man Utd
Sunday, May 10	Man City	6-0	QPR
Sunday, May 10	Chelsea	1-1	Liverpool
Monday, May 11	Arsenal	0-1	Swansea

The current Premier League standings:

Pos.	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea	36	25	9	2	70	28	+42	84
2	Manchester City	36	22	7	7	77	36	+41	73
3	Arsenal	35	21	7	7	66	34	+32	70
4	Manchester United	36	20	8	8	61	36	+25	68
5	Liverpool	36	18	8	10	50	39	+11	62
6	Tottenham	36	17	7	12	55	53	+2	58
7	Southampton	36	17	6	13	48	30	+18	57
8	Swansea	36	16	8	12	44	44	0	56
9	Stoke	36	14	8	14	42	44	-2	50
10	West Ham	36	12	11	13	43	43	0	47
11	Everton	36	11	11	14	46	48	-2	44
12	Crystal Palace	36	11	9	16	43	50	-7	42
13	West Bromwich Albion	36	10	11	15	34	47	-13	41
14	Aston Villa	36	10	8	18	30	50	-20	38
15	Leicester	36	10	7	19	41	54	-13	37
16	Sunderland	35	7	15	13	30	50	-20	36
17	Newcastle United	36	9	9	18	37	61	-24	36
18	Hull	36	8	10	18	33	49	-14	34
19	Burnley	36	6	11	19	27	53	-26	29
20	Queens Park Rangers	36	7	6	23	39	67	-28	27

Monday Recap

Swansea City used a late goal and tremendous goalkeeping and stunned Arsenal 1-0 in a thrilling Monday evening match.

Bafetimbi Gomis drilled home the game’s only goal off a header, but it appeared as if the shot was stopped by David Ospina on first glance. However, goal-line technology gave Gomis the goal, and ended an impressive home streak for Arsenal, per Squawka Football:

While Swansea notched the victory, Arsenal dominated possession and had a number of golden scoring opportunities. Gomis scored the game’s only goal, but Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was the true star of the match. He turned back every attacking chance from the Gunners and was unbeatable Monday. 

Squawka Football put Fabianski’s dominance into visual perspective:

Arsenal failed to put more pressure on Manchester City for second place in the table and still sit three points back. They certainly had plenty of chances to at least notch a draw Monday, but Fabianski was simply too much. 

The Gunners are still looking up at Manchester City as a result.

Sunday Recap

Tim Ireland/Associated Press

Liverpool's dreams of an unlikely Champions League finish all but evaporated on Sunday, as they failed to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The Reds drew 1-1 with the Blues, leaving themselves six points behind Manchester United in the race for fourth, with just two games remaining and an inferior goal difference.

It was the new champions who took the lead, as John Terry once again rolled back the years, heading his team an advantage after five minutes.

But the visitors struck back shortly before the break, as Steven Gerrard repeated Terry's feat to level the match.

Clive Rose/Getty Images

Liverpool had the better chances in the second half to win the game, with Philippe Coutinho twice going close to snatching all three points. But the playmaker failed to convert his efforts—and Brendan Rodgers' men will surely fail to leapfrog United. 

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville was not surprised Rodgers' team did not compete for the title this year, highlighting a host of bad signings and a poor start to the campaign:

"

They started the season poorly. The players they brought in haven’t settled as quickly as they would have wanted. They had a big turnaround of players. They needed to boost the squad. They didn’t have enough players last season and it helped them not being in Europe. They were able to play the same 12 or 13 players all the time.

They were never going to be able to do that this season with the Champions League and it’s found them out a little bit. They overachieved last season. Is this season about par or underachieving? It’s probably underachieving slightly because they would have expected more from the money they spent and the new signings.

"

Michael Regan/Getty Images

In Sunday afternoon's early game, Manchester City sent Queens Park Rangers down to the Championship, relegating the Londoners in a 6-0 demolition.

A hat-trick by Sergio Aguero stung the visitors, who had no resistance to City at any point of the contest.

Aguero and Aleksandar Kolarov opened the scoring in the first half before a rout in the second half. Aguero scored again in the 50th minute and completed his hat-trick just 15 minutes later from the penalty spot.

Further goals from James Milner and David Silva capped off a miserable day for QPR, who were defenceless despite having to win the match. The win sees City pull away from Arsenal in second place, but the Gunners have two games in hand—including their tie against Swansea City on Monday night. 

Saturday Recap

Ian Walton/Getty Images

Manchester United struggled breaking down Crystal Palace but eventually emerged victorious, beating the Eagles 2-1 to open up a seven-point gap with Liverpool in the race for next year's Champions League.

Fellaini scored the decisive goal with 10 minutes left on the clock, but the Belgian had little interest in celebrating with an overzealous fan, via Bleacher Report UK:

Juan Mata had opened the score from the penalty spot, but Jason Puncheon restored balance early in the second half. United pushed for a late winner and eventually found one through Fellaini's powerful header.

Tottenham and Southampton both lost on Saturday, to Stoke City and Leciester City, respectively, and former England international Gary Lineker has a theory for both clubs' sudden downturn in form:

Spurs were embarrassed by Stoke, while Leicester continued their fine form with a 2-0 win over Saints. Riyad Mahrez scored both goals.

The Foxes have now won six of their last seven matches, and with a three-point lead over Hull City, the club suddenly looks likely to survive the drop.

As shared by OptaJoe, their run is more than just a little unlikely:

Newcastle United managed a 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion, and even though Burnley beat Hull 1-0, the Magpies' draw means the Clarets are officially relegated.

As shared by the club's official Twitter account, manager Sean Dyche wanted to thank the fans for their unrelenting support:

Tom Cleverley scored the only goal in Aston Villa's win over West Ham United, and like Leicester, Villa suddenly appear relatively safe after months of toiling in the relegation zone.

Queens Park Rangers need to beat Manchester City on Sunday to avoid Burnley on their way down to the Championship, while Hull have two matches to overcome a two-point gap and save themselves.