They may not have been at their fluent best, but leaders Liverpool maintained their grip on top spot courtesy of a 2-1 victory away at West Ham United.

However, both Chelsea and Manchester City kept pace with Brendan Rodgers's side thanks to home wins over Stoke City and Southampton respectively.

Elsewhere, the battle for fourth was blasted wide open as Everton recorded a 3-0 win over Arsenal at Goodison Park, while there were also convincing triumphs for Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United over the North-East duo.

Towards the bottom, Fulham won 2-1 at Aston Villa, with Crystal Palace coming out on top 3-0 at the expense of struggling Cardiff City. Also winning was West Bromwich Albion, who collected a 1-0 victory from their trip to Norwich City.

Below, Sports Mole has picked out the 11 players that made the biggest impression on us in a 4-5-1 formation.

Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion)
Just when the Baggies were in desperate need of a clean sheet, Foster kept one at Carrow Road. With his side 1-0 up, the England international made two good saves, while also coming off his line to claim numerous crosses.

Leighton Baines (Everton)
Roberto Martinez recently claimed that Baines could play in the centre of midfield, but Everton would lose his impact down the left flank. Time and again he terrorised Arsenal, as well as carrying out his defensive duties.
Martin Skrtel (Liverpool)
Dealing with the physical threat of Andy Carroll is not the easiest of tasks, but Skrtel kept the West Ham United striker relatively quiet in East London.
Brede Hangeland (Fulham)
Fulham defenders have rarely featured in this team this season, but their Norwegian centre-back produced a stubborn performance as the West Londoners resuscitated their survival bid.
Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea)
He may prefer to operate at centre-back, but the Serbian looks extremely comfortable on the right side of a four-man defence. With Stoke reluctant to attack, he was often gifted the freedom to get forward.

Jason Puncheon (Crystal Palace)
The Eagles edged closer to securing another season in the Premier League away at Cardiff, thanks largely to two goals of high quality scored by their winger.
Lewis Holtby (Fulham)
Some Tottenham Hotspur fans were disappointed to see Holtby depart on a loan basis and he enhanced that viewpoint against Villa. It was his cross from which Hugo Rodallega scored the winning goal.
Christian Eriksen (Tottenham Hotspur)
The majority of Tottenham's summer signings have struggled to produce the goods, but Eriksen has perhaps been the shining light. Two of his dangerous crosses resulted in goals, while he also weighed in with a strike of his own against Sunderland.
Juan Mata (Manchester United)
Having opened his United goalscoring account last weekend, the Spaniard added a further two against Newcastle United. His link-up play with Shinji Kagawa made the visitors look threatening every time that they attacked.
Mohamed Salah (Chelsea)
The Egyptian international has spent the majority of his Chelsea career on the bench since his January arrival, but he made the most of a rare start by scoring a goal and winning a penalty against Stoke.

Romelu Lukaku (Everton)
Identifying left-back Nacho Monreal as Arsenal's major weakness, Lukaku went on to give the visiting defender a torrid afternoon. His goal was just reward for the quality of his display.

Numpty of the week

Arsenal: It's a team award this week and it goes to the Gunners, who seem to be imploding at an alarming rate. A victory against Everton would have all but secured Champions League football for next season, but they produced a gutless performance against the Toffees, who could have won by a bigger margin than three goals. It means that Arsenal's top-four fate is no longer in their own hands.

Goal of the week

Jason Puncheon (Cardiff City vs. Crystal Palace): Having opened the scoring during the first half, Puncheon went on to complete it in the closing stages with an unstoppable effort. Marouane Chamakh played a part, stepping over the ball to release the winger, who having dribbled himself to within 20 yards of the Cardiff goal, then proceeded to curl his effort into the top corner of David Marshall's net.