Premier League Table: Week 26 Standings and Full Roundup After Sunday's Results

Welcome back, Danny Welbeck.

The Arsenal forward returned from injury in style, appearing as a second-half substitute in the club's match against Leicester City and scoring the game-winning goal in the final moments of stoppage time to give Arsenal a crucial 2-1 win over the league leaders.

That highlighted an exciting day of football around the Premier League. Below, we'll take a look back at the updated table and all of the day's action.

Table

Place	Team	G	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Leicester City	26	15	8	3	48	29	19	53
2	Tottenham Hotspur	26	14	9	3	47	20	27	51
3	Arsenal	26	15	6	5	41	23	18	51
4	Manchester City	26	14	5	7	48	28	20	47
5	Manchester United	26	11	8	7	33	24	9	41
6	Southampton	26	11	7	8	34	24	10	40
7	West Ham United	26	10	10	6	40	31	9	40
8	Liverpool	26	10	8	8	38	36	2	38
9	Watford	26	10	6	10	29	28	1	36
10	Stoke City	26	10	6	10	27	32	-5	36
11	Everton	26	8	11	7	46	35	11	35
12	Chelsea	26	8	9	9	38	36	2	33
13	Crystal Palace	26	9	5	12	27	32	-5	32
14	West Bromwich Albion	26	8	8	10	24	32	-8	32
15	Bournemouth	26	7	7	12	30	44	-14	28
16	Swansea City	26	6	9	11	24	34	-10	27
17	Norwich City	26	6	6	14	30	50	-20	24
18	Newcastle United	26	6	6	14	27	49	-22	24
19	Sunderland	26	6	5	15	32	50	-18	23
20	Aston Villa	26	3	7	16	20	46	-26	16

Recap

Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images

Leicester City were in control. They went into the half up a goal on Arsenal, after Jamie Vardy converted a penalty late in the first 45. The upstart league leaders were one half away from going a whopping eight points ahead of Arsenal and rendering the Gunners' title hopes all but naught.

But Leicester couldn't hold their lead. Danny Simpson was handed two yellow cards in the span of 10 minutes to start the second half, leaving the visitors down a man for the duration of the match. And the Gunners took advantage. 

Manager Arsene Wenger deserves a lot of credit in the comeback, as two of his second-half substitutions, Theo Walcott and Welbeck, scored the goals. Walcott struck first, as Olivier Giroud headed a pass in the box to him, and he buried his half-volley to even the score. 

But the real heroics were saved for Welbeck. After Marcin Wasilewski's senseless foul in the final minute of stoppage time, the Gunners earned a free kick. Mesut Ozil curled a lovely ball into the box, finding Welbeck for a glancing header to win the match in the dying moments and keep Arsenal's title hopes alive.

For Welbeck, who hasn't appeared in a game since last April due to injury, the goal was a long time coming.

"It's important, but the most important thing was to get the three points, get the win and close the gap at the top," Welbeck told Sky Sports after the match, per Goal.com. "It has been a roller coaster for me, a difficult moment, and my family and friends know what I have been through. It's a beautiful feeling."

Welbeck was quick to keep his sights focused on the future, however.

"It's only one goal," he added. "I want to be out there playing minutes and staying fit."

Despite the devastating nature of the loss, however, don't expect Leicester to drop off anytime soon, as John Cross of the Mirror noted:

Don't expect Tottenham to go anywhere, either. Spurs traveled to Etihad Stadium and came away with a huge 2-1 win over Manchester City, moving to second on the table while dropping City six points behind Leicester. 

That's not exactly where Spurs normally find themselves this time of year, as Bleacher Report UK joked:

Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen scored for the visitors, though Kane's tally from the spot was controversial, as Raheem Sterling was called for a handball in the box. Sterling made a clear effort to keep his arms next to his body and attempted to turn away from the ball. It appeared the ball struck him in the back, at least initially, but Mark Clattenburg pointed to the spot.

Kelechi Iheanacho scored for the home side. But it simply wasn't enough for the Citizens, as they look to be in some trouble in a tight title race, as Paul Wilson of the Guardian noted:

"

...City still await a first victory over a top six side. Pellegrini’s side can no longer hack it against their closest rivals. As Sergio Aguero put it in another unwise hostage to fortune: “If we want to win the league, we have to win against our biggest contenders. That’s what it is all about.” Conclusion: this season is not going to be all about City, whose title chance looks to have gone.

"

Liverpool, meanwhile, are well out of the title race and will have quite the battle just to earn a spot in Europe next season. But the Reds had plenty to be happy about on Sunday, annihilating Aston Villa, 6-0, as Daniel Sturridge scored a goal, alongside scorers James Milner, Emre Can, Divock Origi, Nathaniel Clyne and Kolo Toure.

As sportswriter Ben Smith noted, Sturridge's return for Liverpool has been huge:

And it will make the chase for Europe interesting, as City are currently nine points ahead of Liverpool for the final Champions League spot, while Manchester United trail their bitter Manchester rivals by six points and both Southampton and West Ham are seven points back.

The title race, of now, appears to be among three clubs: Leicester, Arsenal and Tottenham. Each club holds some advantages in that regard. Leicester is only playing in one competition. Tottenham looks as deep and cohesive as they've been in years. The Gunners have the most experience at the top level of football, the most talent on paper of the three teams and are finally starting to get healthy.

It will be a fascinating finale for both the top and bottom of the table, as Aston Villa look all but certain to go down, while five clubs are within five points of one another in the fight to avoid the other two relegation places.

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.