Reporters' Notebook

Sky Sports takes a look at some of the talking points from the weekend's Premier League action.

For individual match reports, statistics, player ratings and key moments from each game, click on the headers below. Aston Villa 1 Chelsea 2 Graeme Bailey Chelsea and Aston Villa served up a real Premier League treat on Saturday and both teams will take plenty from this although it is Paul Lambert left sweating on his side's future. Yes Villa can still go down, they won't, but they still could and you could sense that is why he was angry at the officials - who in all fairness got most things right. Again Villa's defence let them down, but they look to have done enough now to stay up. Chelsea - well it was about one man - Frank Lampard. He grabbed his goalscoring record with a great display - as he struck twice. Rafa Benitez picked a decent team and his move to bring on David Luiz at half-time was a good one, but he will not get the credit from Chelsea fans, and he probably can't wait for his tumultuous tenure to come to an end, but he can hold his head up for steering Chelsea back into the Champions League. Stoke 1 Tottenham 2 Christopher Hammer Tottenham finally made the breakthrough to give their Champions League hopes a much-needed boost as they came from behind to beat Stoke in an absorbing contest - but destiny is still out of their hands. Despite conceding an early goal to a Steven N'Zonzi header due to lack of defensive concentration from a set-piece, the levels of urgency and attacking intent from kick-off will have encouraged Andre Villas-Boas, who knew nothing short of a win would do as they looked to replace Arsenal in fourth spot. The visitors bossed possession throughout but you could argue Charlie Adam's sending-off shortly after half-time with the scores level at 1-1 made life more difficult as the remaining 10 Stoke players courageously dug deep and restricted Spurs largely to long range efforts. But in what was so nearly a frustrating afternoon for Tottenham, their perseverance eventually paid off just seven minutes from time as a decisive quality move involving Gareth Bale, Mousa Dembele and Clint Dempsey set up Emmanuel Adebayor to net a priceless winning goal which sent them two points clear of the Gunners. The manner of this victory might just have deflated their fierce North London rivals ahead of their clash with a Wigan side who are not only in desperate need of points themselves in their battle against the drop but also arrive at the Emirates in jubilant mood after dramatically winning the FA Cup on Saturday. Could there be another twist in the race for fourth? Everton 2 West Ham 0 Daniel Storey It was as if West Ham had agreed to play their part on the day that Goodison said its goodbyes to David Moyes and Phil Neville. Everton were ruthless in midfield as Marouane Fellaini and Darron Gibson's presence in the centre of the field allowed full-backs and wingers to roam almost unopposed. West Ham were never at the races. Tim Howard made one fine save and Andy Carroll struck a post, but otherwise strikers looked isolated and too often defender looked long. Everton, meanwhile, relied on short sharp passing to incise in the final third. As the Moyes era ends, the question remains for this season as to exactly where Everton would be in the table should they have a top striker. Victor Anichebe works enthusiastically and holds the ball up well, but simply fails to provide the goalscoring threat needed to break into the top four. Fulham 1 Liverpool 3 Liverpool will feel it is a shame the season is coming to an end as they are just hitting their stride, and Brendan Rodgers' men made it seven games unbeaten with an impressive win at Craven Cottage. The Reds appeared too reliant on Luis Suarez earlier in the campaign but, with the Uruguayan absent, there does not appear to be any problem. Daniel Sturridge will take the headlines following a fantastic hat-trick, his first ever, but Philippe Coutinho was also in sparkling form and it is exciting to think what Liverpool could produce in 2013/14. For Fulham, this was a fifth consecutive defeat and they can be thankful that they had just managed to hit the 40-point mark before they hit such a slump, as their goal difference means relegation is almost impossible. Martin Jol will have to sort out his squad in the summer and strengthen in all areas to ensure next season is not even more uncomfortable. Norwich 4 West Brom 0 Tom McDermott Norwich City waited until their final home game of the season to put on their finest display. Chris Hughton's men came into the game in wretched form but they ensured their fans wouldn't be put through any final day pain by hammering a poor West Brom team at Carrow Road. Steve Clarke's side, who could still claim eighth position, didn't get going and even though Ben Foster's mistake helped them to victory Norwich didn't allow the visitors to settle from the first whistle and there was always only going to be one winner on the day. For West Brom, it has been a remarkable season but since the turn of the year they haven't quite been as impressive as in the opening months. So much of their play has been dependent on Romelu Lukaku and he will need replacing when his loan deal expires. But Norfolk will be represented in the Premier League next season and Norwich, like West Brom, can now start planning for the 13/14 campaign.QPR 1 Newcastle 2 Benjamin Coley This was a game defined by careless defending throughout and Newcastle's victory simply owed to the fact that QPR's errors were more frequent and more stupid, whereas the visitors improved thanks to their centre-back pairing. When the inevitable summer clearout comes at QPR, surely Jose Bosingwa will be one of the first out the door and on this evidence the best he can hope for is a return to his native Portugal. Once considered among the finest full-backs in Europe, here we saw a player devoid of the qualities which earned him that reputation and, worse still, one severely lacking in desire. It's that lack of desire that has seen QPR relegated so early and the catalogue of errors which led to Newcastle's second goal summed up a miserable season for fans at Loftus Road. Newcastle were far from faultless. First, Mathieu Debuchy gave away a penalty for shirt-pulling before Rob Elliot saw red for two very cheap yellow cards, the second of which saw him penalised for handling outside of his area when the option to kick it clear was clear. The immediate response to this victory in Newcastle will be a mixture of joy and relief, but while they've talent throughout their squad, they will need to realise it quickly to avoid another season of struggle while other sides with less lofty ambitions out-perform them. Sunderland 1 Southampton 1 Alex Dunn If Carlsberg did football matches it's unlikely Sunderland versus Southampton would be the prototype they'd use. Although the game improved after the interval, it could barely have been worse, this was a contest characterised by profligacy. Such wastefulness might have been overlooked had this been a match brimming with intensity but it was lacking almost as much in punch as it was energy. Given a point apiece all but secures both clubs' respective top flight statuses perhaps it should not have been a surprise a nervous energy permeated from the stands onto the field to make for a game instantly forgettable. Sunderland's main issue, rectified by the introduction of Connor Wickham at half-time, was the fact Danny Graham was hopelessly isolated from the off. Neither Adam Johnson nor James McClean showed any inclination to get anywhere near the beleaguered front man, whose hapless task was exacerbated by an absolute dearth of confidence. Southampton were marginally better and showed occasional moments of promise when they got the ball down. In Rickie Lambert and Jay Rodriguez they have a pair of strikers whose sheer size means they'll pose problems for all but the staunchest of defences. Luke Shaw looks a prospect, ever willing to bomb on and with a full season of Premier League experience under his belt will be all the better for it next season. They are, though, still very much a work in progress. Man Utd 2 Swansea 1 Adam Bate Events off the field were always going to overshadow the game itself at Old Trafford and departing boss Sir Alex Ferguson really made sure of that with his team selection. The omission of Wayne Rooney from the squad, coupled with Ferguson's post-match confirmation that the striker had submitted a transfer request, added to the drama of the day. In his absence, United showed that they would still have plenty of firepower next season even without the England international. Javier Hernandez showed his goal-poaching credentials with the opener, while Shinji Kagawa was instrumental in all that was positive from the champions in the final third. Swansea made a significant contribution of their own to the game, something Ferguson himself noted afterwards, and they were a real threat going forward. Michael Laudrup will be confident of building on this campaign and is already looking ahead. "Next season I want to try to consolidate Swansea," said the Swans boss. "There is a lot of challenge there, we're playing in Europe and we would like to have that experience as a club, as a team and I would like to be a part of that." Playing football like this they will be a credit to the Premier League. But this was Ferguson's day and the vocal celebrations after the game will live long in the memory. It was a special occasion for a special manager at a special club. So much so, in fact, that you were left wondering why on earth Rooney wants to leave it.