The Premier League provided its usual drama on Saturday with decisive penalties awarded in all but one of the fixtures.
Chelsea left it late against Leeds United in a game that saw referee Chris Kavanagh award three penalties, while Manchester United earned a narrow win thanks to another Cristiano Ronaldo spot-kick.
Liverpool also profited from the penalty spot as Steven Gerrard made his return to Anfield with Aston Villa, and another conversion from 12 yards aided Manchester City at home to Wolves.
Elsewhere, Arsenal cruised past Southampton, who are yet to win at Emirates Stadium in 23 Premier League attempts – the longest winless run for one club away to another in the competition's history.
With tons of action to unpack, Stats Perform takes an in-depth look at the pick of Opta facts from Saturday's clashes.
Manchester City 1-0 Wolves: Jimenez moment of madness gifts Citizens win
Raheem Sterling reached a century of Premier League goals as City scraped by 10-man Wolves, who could not hold on after Raul Jimenez's bizarre red card for two yellows in a matter of seconds.
Jimenez became the first ever Mexican player to receive a red card in the Premier League, making Mexico the 76th nation to have a player dismissed in the competition.
Sterling then scored from the penalty spot after Joao Moutinho was adjudged to have handled, becoming the 32nd player to 100 Premier League goals and the eighth-youngest at 27 years and three days.
Pep Guardiola's side held on to that slender lead and have now won 32 of their 40 league games in 2021 (D2 L6) – only Liverpool in 1982 (33) have won more matches in a single calendar year in English top-flight history.
Chelsea 3-2 Leeds United: Spot-kick drama condemns Whites to another London loss
Leeds have a miserable record in London and that was extended to just two wins in their past 33 matches in all competitions in the capital despite Raphinha finding the net when a first penalty was awarded in the visitors' favour at Stamford Bridge.
Mason Mount cancelled out that opener, before Raphinha became the 13th player – and first Leeds star – to both score and concede a penalty in the same Premier League game when he brought down Antonio Rudiger, allowing Jorginho to score.
Although Joe Gelhardt netted Leeds' first top-flight goal by a teenager since James Milner versus Everton in April 2004 to level the match again, Rudiger won a second penalty – the first Chelsea player to earn two in a Premier League game since Yuri Zhirkov against Aston Villa in March 2010 – deep into stoppage time.
Jorginho settled the result with his second from 12 yards after 93 minutes and 11 seconds, the Blues' latest winning goal in the competition since Florent Malouda's strike against Stoke City in September 2009 (93:36).
Liverpool 1-0 Aston Villa: Salah downs shot-shy Villans
Returning hero Gerrard was greeted with a standing ovation back at Anfield, but the latest king of the Kop ensured his Villa side went away empty-handed.
Mohamed Salah again made the difference, the Egypt international converting his 15th straight Premier League penalty – the second-longest ever such run in the competition after Matt Le Tissier (23 between 1994 and 2000).
Salah is also now just one game away from Jamie Vardy's record of either scoring or assisting in 15 straight Premier League matches between August and December 2015.
This was Liverpool's 100th 1-0 win in the competition and their second in a row for the first time since December 2015, requiring just the one goal as Villa failed to register a single shot on target in a league match for the first time since December 2019 against Sheffield United.
Norwich City 0-1 Manchester United: Another Ronaldo rescue act for Red Devils
Ralf Rangnick has pinpointed United's defensive issues as a key area to fix and there were more positive signs on that front – at least on the stats sheet.
Rangnick became just the second Manchester United manager to register a clean sheet in his first two league games after Ernest Mangnall in 1903.
United were far from convincing in either defence or attack, though, again relying on David de Gea and match-winner Ronaldo, who won and scored United's 50th successful away Premier League spot-kick – only Liverpool (60) have netted more such goals in the competition's history.
Ronaldo also became only the third player to score for three different United managers in a single season after James Hanson and Joe Spence both did so in 1926-27.
Milan 3-1 Hellas Verona: Leao double condemns visitors to Serie A relegation play-off
Milan signed off the Serie A season with a 3-1 victory as Rafael Leao's double condemned Hellas Verona to a relegation play-off with Spezia.
The Rossoneri wrapped up a frustrating campaign on a winning note at San Siro, with a late Leao brace enough to seal three points.
Milan had already secured Champions League football for another term but struggled at times against the visitors, who cancelled out Olivier Giroud's first-half penalty through Marco Faraoni's 72nd-minute strike.
Yet Leao struck in the 85th minute and again seven minutes later, leaving Verona to face a relegation decider with Spezia, who succumbed to a late 2-1 loss at Roma.
Udinese 0-1 Juventus: Chiesa strikes but Bianconeri miss out on top-six Serie A finish
Juventus missed the chance to finish sixth in Serie A despite Federico Chiesa's strike sealing a 1-0 victory over Udinese at Dacia Arena.
After Paulo Dybala's late penalty helped Roma to a 2-1 victory over Spezia, Massimiliano Allegri's side were unable to leapfrog the Giallorossi and were forced to settle for a seventh-place finish in the league.
Chiesa's second-half strike was the difference for Juve, who were deducted 10 points for violating financial rules earlier in a rollercoaster campaign, but they suffered their lowest finish in Serie A for 12 years.
Meanwhile, Udinese finished 12th in Serie A following their 10th defeat in 12 meetings with the Old Lady.
Udinese had lost their last three but went close after just four minutes when Beto somehow headed Florian Thauvin's cross over from inside the six-yard box.
Federico Chiesa’s deflected effort hit the side-netting before Juve saw a headed opportunity go begging as Leonardo Bonucci nodded against the crossbar from seven yards out following Arkadiusz Milik's flick-on.
Chiesa continued to cause Udinese problems down the left flank, yet the sides headed into half-time goalless after a profligate showing from both teams.
Juve squandered a great chance to break the deadlock just after the hour mark, Adrien Rabiot firing wide despite being found by Milik in acres of space inside the box.
But the visitors eventually opened the scoring in the 68th minute, Chiesa receiving the ball from Manuel Locatelli before bending a brilliant shot into the bottom-right corner.
Locatelli and Angel Di Maria went close to extending the advantage and though the single goal was enough, former Juve forward Dybala was to snatch sixth place for Roma from under his old club's nose.
Celta Vigo 2-1 Barcelona: Veiga double secures safety as Celestes stun champions
Gabri Veiga scored twice as Celta Vigo clinched survival with a surprise 2-1 win over champions Barcelona on a dramatic final day of the season in LaLiga.
Starting the game in 17th, Celta knew a victory would preserve their top-flight status, and Carlos Carvalhal's men took charge as Veiga struck either side of the break.
The 21-year-old drilled into the bottom-left corner to spark wild scenes at the Balaidos shortly before half-time, then saw a fortuitous 65th-minute cross sail in off the far post.
Celta clung on after Barca substitute Ansu Fati nodded home, clinching a 13th-placed finish as Real Valladolid went down, while Barca ended the campaign 10 points clear of runners-up Real Madrid.
Barca thought they had an 11th-minute lead when Franck Kessie latched onto a rebound to beat Ivan Villar, only for a VAR review to show the midfielder was offside.
Oscar Rodriguez skewed a first-time shot just wide as Celta went close, while Robert Lewandowski saw a curling effort clip the outside of Villar's left post.
The offside flag thwarted Rodriguez as he capitalised on Marc-Andre ter Stegen's error to flick home, but Celta did go ahead on the stroke of half-time when Veiga raced onto Haris Seferovic's pass to finish across goal.
With Barca struggling for momentum, Veiga put Celta 2-0 up when his mishit cross from the right swerved over substitute goalkeeper Inaki Pena, clipping the woodwork before nestling in the back of the net.
Fati ensured a nervous finish by heading in Ousmane Dembele's cross 11 minutes from time, but Celta clung on to ensure another season of top-flight football.
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