Barclays Premier League Table: Updated 2015 EPL Review After Week 16 Results

Manchester City beat a managerless but valiant Swansea City side 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday to return to the summit of the Premier League. Rivals Manchester United suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Bournemouth, putting even more pressure on manager Louis van Gaal's position.

Elsewhere, Watford earned a valuable away win at Sunderland, while Crystal Palace narrowly beat Southampton at Selhurst Park.

West Ham United and Stoke City played out a goalless draw, while earlier, Everton drew 1-1 with Norwich City.

Read on for a complete roundup of the day's action, but first, here are all the results and the latest standings:

Date	Home	Away	Score
Saturday, Dec. 12	Norwich	Everton	1-1
Saturday, Dec. 12	Crystal Palace	Southampton	1-0
Saturday, Dec. 12	Manchester City	Swansea	2-1
Saturday, Dec. 12	Sunderland	Watford	0-1
Saturday, Dec. 12	West Ham	Stoke	0-0
Saturday, Dec. 12	Bournemouth	Manchester United	2-1
Sunday, Dec. 13	Aston Villa	Arsenal	TBD
Sunday, Dec. 13	Liverpool	WBA	TBD
Sunday, Dec. 13	Tottenham Hotspur	Newcastle United	TBD
Monday, Dec. 14	Leicester	Chelsea	TBD

R	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Manchester City	16	10	2	4	32	17	+15	32
2	Leicester	15	9	5	1	32	21	+11	32
3	Arsenal	15	9	3	3	27	13	+14	30
4	Manchester United	16	9	5	2	21	12	+9	29
5	Tottenham	15	6	8	1	25	12	+13	26
6	Watford	16	7	4	5	18	16	+2	25
7	West Ham	16	6	6	4	25	21	+4	24
8	Everton	16	5	8	3	29	21	+8	23
9	Crystal Palace	15	7	2	6	20	15	+5	23
10	Liverpool	15	6	5	4	18	17	+1	23
11	Stoke	16	6	5	5	13	14	-1	23
12	Southampton	15	5	6	4	21	18	+3	21
13	West Bromwich Albion	15	5	4	6	14	19	-5	19
14	Bournemouth	16	4	4	8	20	31	-11	16
15	Chelsea	15	4	3	8	17	24	-7	15
16	Swansea	16	3	5	8	15	24	-9	14
17	Norwich	16	3	5	8	18	28	-10	14
18	Newcastle United	15	3	4	8	16	30	-14	13
19	Sunderland	16	3	3	10	17	30	-13	12
20	Aston Villa	15	1	3	11	13	28	-15	6

Saturday Recap

After a slow start, City took the lead against Swansea after 25 minutes when Wilfried Bony raced onto Jesus Navas' excellent in-swinging corner to head home.

Stuart Brennan of the Manchester Evening News noted his solid scoring record this season:

The Swans did not capitulate, though, as Gylfi Sigurdsson forced two strong saves from Joe Hart. Indeed, the midfielder even had the ball in the net late on, but the strike was controversially disallowed after Bafetimbi Gomis was adjudged to have fouled Hart.

Gomis looked to have snatched a point for the visitors when he latched onto a fantastic through ball and rifled past Hart in the 90th minute, but two minutes later, Yaya Toure grabbed a last-gasp winner when his shot deflected off Kelechi Iheanacho and past the unfortunate Lukasz Fabianski.

It's a vital win for City, but as Squawka Football noted, there are serious concerns over their ability to defend when missing captain Vincent Kompany:

Manchester United suffered their second disappointing loss of the week at Bournemouth, losing 2-1 to the Cherries just days after their Champions League exit in a 3-2 loss to Wolfsburg.

Bournemouth scored twice from corners, with Junior Stanislas handing the hosts the lead minutes into the match and Joshua King scoring the eventual winner early in the second half. ESPN FC's John Brewin couldn't believe United didn't defend the set pieces better:

The Red Devils equalised through Marouane Fellaini and played a solid first half, displaying their attacking intentions and playing without any fear.

The second half was a different story, however, and Van Gaal gave his critics even more ammunition with a number of odd decisions. He never brought on Ashley Young, when pace out wide was what the squad needed the most, and his decision to take off Fellaini, who was playing reasonably well, was also baffling.

Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News was not impressed:

The loss leaves United in fourth place in the standings, three points behind rivals Manchester City. It brings an end to a rough week for the club and Van Gaal, and following their Champions League exit and Saturday's debacle, questions regarding Van Gaal's future will only increase.

Crystal Palace went ahead shortly before half-time when Yohan Cabaye turned home Yannick Bolasie's low cross from the byline, and the Frenchman's goal proved enough despite Southampton's persistent efforts to find an equaliser.

Stoke began as the better side at Upton Park but failed to take the lead while on top. The Hammers grew into the game and enjoyed spells of dominance of their own, but both teams lacked the cutting edge needed to make a breakthrough as they duly reached a goalless stalemate.

Watford took an early lead when Odion Ighalo slid in to guide home at the back post. As OptaJoe revealed, the striker is having an outstanding season:

The Hornets pushed for a second but were unable to kill the game off. Fitting the theme of the day, the Black Cats had plenty of opportunities themselves as they sought to get back into the match but proved equally profligate, while Jermain Defoe had a goal correctly disallowed for offside.

In the early kick-off, Everton took the lead through Romelu Lukaku after 15 minutes when he directed Gerard Deulofeu's cross in with his head. Squawka Football illustrated the Belgian's impressive form:

The striker could not put the game to bed, though, as he missed a number of chances to add to his tally.

Wes Hoolahan scrambled home an equaliser shortly after the break, and despite their best efforts, neither side were able to find the decisive third goal.

The draw is Everton's eighth in the league this season. While they have had little trouble in scoring thanks to the likes of Lukaku, Deulofeu and Ross Barkley—the Toffees' tally of 29 goals is among the best in the division—if they're to join the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool in a battle for the top four, they'll need to improve defensively in order to see out games such as this.