Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard both bowed out of English football with scoring performances on Sunday.
Liverpool captain Gerrard was on target as the Reds were beaten 6-1 by Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium while Lampard hit the back of the net as Manchester City defeated Southampton 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium on the final day of the 2014/15 Premier League season.
Gerrard, who is set to join MLS champions LA Galaxy, received plenty of adulation from both sets of fans when he angled an effort past Asmir Begovic in the 70th minute to tally his 186th goal in his 710th, and final, appearance for Liverpool.
However, it was a dirty day for the Merseyside club as Mame Biram Diouf netted twice early before Jon Walters came up with his 50th goal for the Potters on the half-hour mark.
Charlie Adam then rocketed one past Simon Mignolet against his former club before Steven Nzonzi bent in a pearler from range to make it 5-0 at the break.
Peter Crouch headed home, also against his ex-club, in the 86th minute to give Stoke a stunning victory on Gerrard's farewell appearance.
In Manchester, New York City-bound Lampard opened the scoring for City in the 31st minute with a lovely first-time finish with his left foot from James Milner's low cross to notch his 259th goal in England.
That preceded Sergio Aguero's simple back post header late in the game which allowed him to clinch the Golden Boot with his 26th strike of the season.
Newcastle United managed to avoid relegation on the final day of the season thanks to a 2-0 win over West Ham United at home.
Goals from Moussa Sissoko and cancer survivor Jonas Gutierrez gave the Magpies a stirring triumph at home which saw them remain in the top flight while Hull City drew 0-0 with ten-man Manchester United but the result was not enough to deny the Tigers dropping back to the Championship.
Theo Walcott rediscovered some scoring form for Arsenal with a first-half hat-trick in their 4-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion at the Emirates Stadium.
Goals in the fourth, 14th and 37th minutes along with Jack Wilshere's 17th-minute effort enabled the Gunners to secure third position and an automatic entry into the Champions League.
Elsewhere, relegated Burnley edged Aston Villa 1-0 at Villa Park, Crystal Palace finished 10th courtesy of a 1-0 win over Swansea City at home, Harry Kane grabbed his 21st league goal of the season as Tottenham beat Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park and Leicester City made it seven wins from their last nine with a stunning 5-1 victory over bottom-placed QPR.
Jamie Vardy, Marc Albrighton, Leonardo Ulloa, Esteban Cambiasso and Andrej Kramaric were all on target as the Foxes finished the season in 14th position after being deeply entrenched in a relegation battle only weeks ago.
2014/15 Barclays Premier League - final day scores
Arsenal: 4 (Theo Walcott 4'/14'/37', Jack Wilshere 17') West Bromwich Albion: 1 (Gareth McAuley 57') Emirates Stadium, London - 59,971
Aston Villa: 0 Burnley: 1 (Danny Ings 6') Villa Park, Birmingham - 40,792
Chelsea: 3 (Diego Costa (p) 37', Loic Remy 70'/88') Sunderland: 1 (Steven Flcteher 26') Stamford Bridge, London - 41,620
Crystal Palace: 1 (Marouane Chamakh 57') Swansea City: 0 Selhurst Park, London - 25,076
Everton: 0 Tottenham: 1 (Harry Kane 24') Goodison Park, Liverpool - 39,365
Hull City: 0 Manchester United: 0 (red card: Marouane Fellaini 77') KC Stadium, Kingston-upon-Hull - 24,745
Leicester City: 5 (Jamie Vardy 16', Marc Albrighton 43', Leonardo Ulloa 51', Esteban Cambiasso 52', Andrej Kramaric 86') QPR: 1 (Charlie Austin 57') King Power Stadium, Leicester - 31,467
Manchester City: 2 (Frank Lampard 31', Sergio Aguero 88') Southampton: 0 Etihad Stadium, Manchester - 45,919
Newcastle United: 2 (Moussa Sissoko 54', Jonas Gutierrez 85') West Ham United: 0 St James' Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne - 52,094
Stoke City: 6 (Mame Biram Diouf 22'/26', Jon Walters 30', Charlie Adam 41', Steven Nzonzi 45', Peter Crouch 86') Liverpool: 1 (Steven Gerrard 70') Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent - 27,602
