Arsenal ended week 21 of the 2013/14 Barclays Premier League season on top of the table courtesy of a 2-1 win over Aston Villa on Monday night.
First-half goals from Jack Wilshere and Olivier Giroud, prior to a late response from Christian Benteke, allowed the Gunners to return to the summit of the standings after being momentarily displaced by Manchester City who notched their sixth straight league triumph.
The 2012 champions had stepped up to the mantle on Sunday with a 2-0 victory at Newcastle United thanks to goals from Edin Dzeko and Alvaro Negredo after Chelsea had temporarily moved to pole position when efforts from Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres helped them account for Hull City 2-0 on Saturday.
Liverpool struck a handful of goals in their scintillating 5-3 win over Stoke City, with assistance from a Luis Suarez brace, while an Adam Johnson hat-trick gave Sunderland a huge 4-1 result at Fulham.
T Ten-man West Ham United produced a much-needed 2-0 win at Cardiff City to move out of the drop zone, sending the Welsh side down to the bottom three, as Everton stayed within striking distance of the top five with a 2-0 home win over Norwich City.
Southampton edged West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at St Mary's, Manchester United were too good for Swansea City by winning 2-0 at Old Trafford and Tottenham made it four wins from five under Tim Sherwood with a 2-0 triumph over Crystal Palace to remain sixth.
2013/14 Barclays Premier League season scores
Hull City: 0 Chelsea: 2 (Eden Hazard 56, Fernando Torres 87') KC Stadium, Kingston-upon-Hull - 24,924
Cardiff City: 0 West Ham United: 2 (Carlton Cole 42', Mark Noble 90+3', red card: James Tomkins 72') Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff - 27,750
Everton: 2 (Gareth Barry 23', Kevin Mirallas 59') Norwich City: 0 Goodison Park, Liverpool - 36,827
Fulham: 1 (Steve Sidwell 52') Sunderland: 4 (Adam Johnson 29'/69'/(p) 85', Ki Sung-yueng 41') Craven Cottage, London - 25,564
Southampton: 1 (Adam Lallana 66') West Bromwich Albion: 0 St Mary's Stadium, Southampton - 28,610
Tottenham: 2 (Christian Eriksen 50', Jermain Defoe 72') Crystal Palace: 0 White Hart Lane, London - 36,102
Manchester United: 2 (Antonio Valencia 47', Danny Welbeck 59') Swansea City: 0 Old Trafford, Manchester - 75,035
Newcastle United: 0 Manchester City: 2 (Edin Dzeko 8', Alvaro Negredo 90+5') St James' Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne - 49,423
Stoke City: 3 (Peter Crouch 39', Charlie Adam 45', Jon Wakters 85') Liverpool: 5 (Ryan Shawcross (og) 5', Luis Suarez 32'/71', Steven Gerrard (p) 51', Daniel Sturridge 87') Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent - 27,160
Aston Villa: 1 (Christian Benteke 76') Arsenal: 2 (Jack Wilshere 34', Olivier Giroud 35') Villa Park, Birmingham - 36,097
