EPL Table: Updated 2016 Standings, Top Scorers After Saturday's Week 35 Results

Manchester City thrashed Stoke City 4-0 in the Premier League’s early kick-off on Saturday to move one point above Arsenal into third spot in the table.

Fernando opened the scoring before Sergio Aguero netted his 23rd league goal of the season from the penalty spot to close to within one strike of top-scorer Harry Kane. Youngster Kelechi Iheanacho then netted a second-half brace to wrap up a convincing home win.

Elsewhere, Newcastle United grabbed a deserved point after coming from two goals down against Liverpool at Anfield, as Papiss Cisse and Jack Colback cancelled out Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana's first-half efforts.

Aston Villa succumbed to their 10th successive Premier League defeat after they were beaten 4-2 at home to Southampton, while Chelsea crushed Bournemouth 4-1 on the south-coast as Eden Hazard netted a brace to mark his first league goals of the season.

Read on for a roundup of Saturday's scores, the latest Premier League standings and an updated look at the English top flight's leading scorers.

Home	Score	Away
Manchester City	4-0	Stoke City
AFC Bournemouth	1-4	Chelsea
Aston Villa	2-4	Southampton
Liverpool	2-2	Newcastle

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	GS	GC	GD	Pts
1	Leicester	34	21	10	3	59	33	+26	73
2	Tottenham	34	19	11	4	64	25	+39	68
3	Manchester City	35	19	7	9	66	34	+32	64
4	Arsenal	34	18	9	7	58	34	+24	63
5	Manchester United	34	17	8	9	42	30	+12	59
6	West Ham	34	14	14	6	57	43	+14	56
7	Liverpool	34	15	10	9	58	45	+13	55
8	Southampton	35	15	9	11	49	37	+12	54
9	Chelsea	34	12	11	11	53	46	+7	47
10	Stoke	35	13	8	14	37	51	-14	47
11	Everton	34	9	14	11	53	48	+5	41
12	Watford	34	11	8	15	33	40	-7	41
13	Bournemouth	35	11	8	16	42	61	-19	41
14	Swansea	34	10	10	14	34	45	-11	40
15	West Bromwich Albion	34	10	10	14	31	42	-11	40
16	Crystal Palace	35	10	9	16	36	45	-9	39
17	Norwich	34	8	7	19	35	60	-25	31
18	Sunderland	33	7	9	17	39	57	-18	30
19	Newcastle United	35	7	9	19	38	64	-26	30
20	Aston Villa	35	3	7	25	25	69	-44	16

Position	Player	Club	Goals
1	Harry Kane	Tottenham Hotspur	24
2	Sergio Aguero	Manchester City	23
3	Jamie Vardy	Leicester City	22
4	Romelu Lukaku	Everton	18
5	Riyad Mahrez	Leicester City	16
6	Odion Ighalo	Watford	14
7	Olivier Giroud	Arsenal	13
8	Jermain Defoe	Southampton	12
9	Alexis Sanchez	Arsenal	12
10	Diego Costa	Chelsea	11

City Leapfrog Arsenal into Third

Manchester City’s convincing win over Stoke City saw them return to the top three of the Premier League and move within four points of Tottenham Hotspur in second place.

City now have three games remaining in the league to secure a lucrative top-four finish. In spite of their upcoming UEFA Champions League semi-final with Real Madrid, Manuel Pellegrini's side are determined to secure a place in Europe's premier club competition for next term.

Due to their FA Cup semi-final commitments, Manchester United now trail their city rivals by five points as the season reaches its climax.

The hosts were forced to be patient at the Etihad Stadium against their Staffordshire opponents, but Fernando broke the deadlock with a rare goal 10 minutes from time in the first half, heading Jesus Navas’ corner past Shay Given.

Nigerian striker Iheanacho was pulled down in the area by Potters defender Ryan Shawcross two minutes before the break, and Stoke were soon faced with a two-goal deficit. Aguero netted his seventh goal in five Premier League games from the penalty spot after striking past his former team-mate.

OptaJoe highlighted just how impressive Aguero's form in front of goal has been:

Iheanacho then added his own name to the scoresheet in the second period, firing low past half-time substitute Jakob Haugaard, before adding his second with fifteen minutes to play after rounding the 'keeper and tapping into an unguarded net.

City fanzine channel BlueMoonRisingTV had high praise for the 19-year-old after netting his 10th and 11th goals for the club:

Magpies Swoop for a Point

Rafael Benitez’s Newcastle United produced a magnificent comeback against Liverpool on Merseyside to edge closer to Premier League survival. The Toon are now within one point of Norwich City in 17th place but have now played one game more than the Canaries.

North-east rivals Sunderland remain on the cusp of another great escape. They sit level on points with their nearest enemy but have played two games fewer. 

With three matches left to play for Newcastle this season, every point is vital if they are to avoid dropping into the second-tier for the second time in seven years.

Sturridge had put the hosts ahead within two minutes after the England international collected Alberto Moreno’s long ball into the box and fired past Karl Darlow. The Reds then doubled their advantage on the half-hour mark as Lallana bent a sublime effort into the far corner.

Liverpool did not appear to be missing central defender Mamadou Sakho in their back line, with the Frenchman absent due to a UEFA investigation into a possible doping violation, per the club's official website.

But that soon changed following the interval when Cisse netted with a header from Vernon Anita’s deep cross into the box from the right wing as Simon Mignolet was left stranded.

Goal's Liverpool correspondent Melissa Reddy admits Jurgen Klopp's players went soft in the second period:

Meanwhile, the official Newcastle United account had nothing but delight for the performance:

Colback then snatched a deserved equaliser on 66 minutes, driving home the loose ball after some nice work inside the area from Andros Townsend.

Hazard Finally Makes his Mark

Hazard opened his account in the Premier League this season with two goals as Chelsea comfortably saw off Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.

Pedro kickstarted the Blues into life with a goal just five minutes into the contest, as he chipped Artur Boruc following a fine counter-attacking move.

The Cherries were made to pay for their missed opportunities on 34 minutes as Hazard struck a low drive into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

Belgian journalist Kristof Terreur believes his compatriot is reaping the benefits of being injury-free:

Adam Levene provided the data detailing the winger's previous poor run of form:

Tommy Elphick handed the hosts a lifeline one minute later after netting from a header from a short corner. However, Brazilian winger Willian rebuilt Chelsea’s two-goal advantage after 71 minutes.

In stoppage time at the end of the match, Belgium international Hazard grabbed his second of the afternoon to mark his performance with a brace after Nemanja Matic cut the ball back for him to finish smartly.