EPL Table 2016: Week 24 Top Scorers After Wednesday's Premier League Scores
Ross Barkley crept up the Premier League's top scorers standings as he fired home a late brace as Everton dispatched Newcastle United 3-0 at Goodison Park on Wednesday.
The Englishman pulled level with Diego Costa on eight goals, with the Spaniard left frustrated by Chelsea's 0-0 draw away at Watford.
Read on for a closer look at how the two got on. But first, here are all the results from Week 24 of the Premier League, along with the final standings after those results and how the race for the Golden Boot is shaping up:
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| Arsenal | 0-0 | Southampton |
| Leicester City | 2-0 | Liverpool |
| Norwich City | 0-3 | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Sunderland | 0-1 | Manchester City |
| West Ham United | 2-0 | Aston Villa |
| Crystal Palace | 1-2 | Bournemouth |
| Manchester United | 3-0 | Stoke City |
| West Bromwich Albion | 1-1 | Swansea City |
| Everton | 3-0 | Newcastle |
| Watford | 0-0 | Chelsea |
| 1 | Leicester City | 24 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 44 | 26 | 18 | 50 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 24 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 46 | 23 | 23 | 47 |
| 3 | Tottenham Hotspur | 24 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 44 | 19 | 25 | 45 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 24 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 37 | 22 | 15 | 45 |
| 5 | Manchester United | 24 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 31 | 21 | 10 | 40 |
| 6 | West Ham United | 24 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 38 | 28 | 10 | 39 |
| 7 | Southampton | 24 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 32 | 24 | 8 | 34 |
| 8 | Liverpool | 24 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 30 | 34 | -4 | 34 |
| 9 | Watford | 24 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 27 | 26 | 1 | 33 |
| 10 | Stoke City | 24 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 24 | 28 | -4 | 33 |
| 11 | Everton | 24 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 43 | 34 | 9 | 32 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 24 | 9 | 4 | 11 | 25 | 29 | -4 | 31 |
| 13 | Chelsea | 24 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 32 | 34 | -2 | 29 |
| 14 | West Bromwich Albion | 24 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 23 | 31 | -8 | 29 |
| 15 | Bournemouth | 24 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 29 | 39 | -10 | 28 |
| 16 | Swansea City | 24 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 23 | 32 | -9 | 26 |
| 17 | Norwich City | 24 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 28 | 46 | -18 | 23 |
| 18 | Newcastle United | 24 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 25 | 44 | -19 | 21 |
| 19 | Sunderland | 24 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 28 | 47 | -19 | 19 |
| 20 | Aston Villa | 24 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 18 | 40 | -22 | 13 |
| Jamie Vardy | Leicester City | 18 |
| Harry Kane | Tottenham Hotspur | 15 |
| Romelu Lukaku | Everton | 15 |
| Odion Ighalo | Watford | 14 |
| Riyad Mahrez | Leicester City | 13 |
| Sergio Aguero | Manchester City | 13 |
| Olivier Giroud | Arsenal | 12 |
| Jermain Defoe | Sunderland | 9 |
| Georginio Wijnaldum | Newcastle United | 9 |
| Diego Costa | Chelsea | 8 |
| Ross Barkley | Everton | 8 |
Ross Barkley
The midfielder should have had his first—and Everton's second—shortly before half-time when a poor attempted clearance by Rob Elliot fell at his feet, but he couldn't capitalise.
Barkley continued to toil away in the second half, with football journalist Chris Waugh noting the ease through which he was allowed to cut through the hapless Magpies:
The 22-year-old soon came close to scoring, per Scott Wilson of the Northern Echo:
With two minutes of normal time remaining, Rolando Aarons felled opening goalscorer Aaron Lennon, and Barkley duly stepped up to dispatch the penalty.
In the 94th minute, Jamaal Lascelles saw red for a bad foul on Barkley, and the England international coolly dinked in a panenka from the spot.
Squawka Football highlighted his impressive form:
The Daily Mail's Ian Ladyman believes the youngster will attract plenty of attention in the transfer market this summer:
Though he's not likely to challenge for the golden boot, Barkley has been outstanding this season. He has an exciting future ahead of him, and a place in Roy Hodgson's England squad for Euro 2016 surely beckons.
Diego Costa
It was yet another fruitless night in front of goal for Costa, who had been enjoying a revival of form under interim Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink.
Per PA Sport's Matt McGeehan, the 27-year-old was perhaps fortunate to escape a booking just 10 minutes into the match:
As McGeehan further revealed, not being sanctioned early on allowed him to remain on the pitch when, shortly before the break, he clashed with Juan Carlos Paredes:
Perhaps frustrated at the lack of service, Costa found himself drifting out of position to get involved in the play—but as football journalist Dan Levene noted, he did little to help himself in doing so:
The only clear-cut chance to fall to the Spaniard came late on when Willian picked him out with a delightful cross, but Heurelho Gomes—who put in a man-of-the-match-winning performance—made a wonderful save to keep out his powerful header.
As Wednesday's result showed, both Costa and Chelsea still have some way to go in order to return to their best.
Despite a mixed performance, the striker could easily have got on the scoresheet if not for Gomes' excellent save, though, so he was still at least somewhat more effective than he was under Jose Mourinho for much of the season.
