As the EPL winds down to its conclusion the race for the Champions league places and the fight to avoid the relegation drop takes all the headlines as Manchester United have already secured the title.

Aston Villa’s Christian Benteke celebrates his hatrick

The Champions United made their trip to London to face Arsenal and were greeted with an honor guard in what was also the return of Robin van Persie. The respect of the honor guard, was where the niceties ended as the Gunners stormed out to 1-0 lead.  The goal was that much sweeter as it was a Van Persie error that led to the goal. Arsenal huffed and puffed and put in an overall solid performance, but for all their efforst they were to increase their lead. United on the otherhand, were seemingly untroubled and did not even get out of second gear to stay in the game, showing the gulf in class. Ironically, the game was eventually tied up on a Robin van Persie penalty kick after he was brought down. As scripted van Persie stepped scored the penalty and the game ended in a 1-1 draw

The other top four hopefuls, Man City, Spurs and Chelsea all had differing result. Second place City beat West Ham 2-1 to maintain their hold, with Yaya Toure stepping up to score a cracker from 20 yards.

Fifth place Spurs didn’t do their champions leagues any favours, as fortunate as they dropped 2 points with their 2-2 tie against lowly Wigan. Newly crowned PFA player of the year Gareth Bale opened the scoring, taking advantage of Wigan’s some poor defending. But Spurs were not good on the day and should be happy with result. The result is a bonus for Wigan and keepos their slim fight for survival alive.

Chelsea maintain their push, as Frank Lampard came off the bench to inspire their 2-0 win over Swansea. Lampard scored one and assisted on the other, in the process becoming Chelsea 2nd all time goalscoring leader with 201 goals.

At the bottom of the table Reading and QPR played to a effortless, uninspiring 0-0 draw. A result which confirms that both will be relegated and put an end to two forgettable seasons.

Elsewhere, Aston Villa stormed to a stunning 6-1 over Sunderland, with Christian Benteke scoring a hatrick. The result stops Sunderland’s win streak and aids Villa’s survival hopes.

Liverpool safe in the top ten, beat Newcastle 6-0 in the first outing without Luis Suarez, who is serving a 10 game ban for his biting incident. For Newcastle, their 2nd loss in a row, puts them in the mix for the final relegation spot. The loss is especially damaging as Newcastle’s 2nd half capitulation does not bode well for a relegation fight.

With 3 games remaining its all up for grabs. Wigan sit in the final relegation spot, while, Newcastle, Sunderland and Aston Villa are all in the mix.