Premier League scores, Week 14: Diego Costa vs. Alexis Sanchez is a stellar player of the year battle

If you missed any of Saturday’s Premier League action because you were checking out El Clásico or outside making sure your body gets an ample amount of Vitamin D, we can help you catch up. And you sure did miss a lot, because there was a ton of action to kick off round 14. Between the seven matches, Premier League clubs produced an astonishing 27 goals. Many of them involved Diego Costa and Alexis Sanchez, who look like your early favorites for player of the year.

Saturday’s scores

Costa scored his team’s equalizer against Manchester City, sending him back to the top of the Premier League scoring charts. But his most impressive play of the day wasn’t a goal -- it was this assist for the winner. Look at the work he does in midfield and the pass he plays to Willian to set up Chelsea’s second goal.

This far into the season, Costa’s play is no longer just a run of good form. He’s the old Diego Costa again, the one that dominated for Atlético Madrid and Chelsea before his falling out with Jose Mourinho. And Chelsea’s 3-4-3 system seems to facilitate him setting up his teammates just as much as it does him scoring.

As far as this game as a whole, City will feel unlucky. Sure, they defended poorly on all of the goals, but they should have been up by four before Costa’s went in. Through a combination of poor finishing and a good performance in net by Thibaut Courtois, City failed to finish their chances. The 3-1 scoreline is a bit deceiving -- City and Chelsea are two very evenly matched teams.

Don’t yell at me. I don’t want a Tony Pulis side to be good either. But it might be time to sit down your children and talk to them honestly about West Brom being a top-half team. Their 3-1 win over Watford looked very comfortable and they’re undefeated in their last four games. Their plus-3 goal differential is equal to or better than every team below them -- including Manchester United. They’re not reliant on one star or flukey set of plays -- Solomon Rondon and Nacer Chadli have four goals each, while Gareth McAuley and Matt Phillips each have three.

They’re really, genuinely a top-half team. I’m sorry.

Spurs back! Not only did they lay a 5-0 beating on Swansea City, but they held them to zero shots on target too. Swansea made just one attempt at goal, from 25 yards, and didn’t test Hugo Lloris. Here’s what Cartilage Free Captain had to say.

OK, so Swansea is a bad team. Crushing them at home does not indicate anything about Spurs’ long-term prospects. But they’ve struggled to disappointing draws all year, they’re out of the Champions League, and their loss to Chelsea felt demoralizing. They needed this.

As competent as Sam Allardyce is, there’s no joy in playing for him. Just comfort in the knowledge that your manager is very competent and will make good decisions to prevent you from embarrassing yourself. David Moyes is thought of as the same kind of coach, but something magical is happening on Wearside -- players are having fun!

The potent strike partnership of Victor Anichibe and Jermain Defoe certainly helps, but it’s filtered down to the other end of the pitch too. Jordan Pickford made a save in stoppage time to deny Leicester an equalizer, went nuts, and the fans responded.

This is something it feels like Sunderland hasn’t had in five years.

Alan Pardew must’ve had something convincing to say to the Crystal Palace board this week. After his team collapsed in a 5-4 defeat against Swansea -- his team’s sixth loss in a row -- some wondered if he’d lose his job. He did not, and he won’t lose his job this week either. Palace beat Southampton 3-0, and the first goal was... this.

Ultimately, this was not the deciding factor in Palace’s win. They scored two more goals, after all. But who knows how the game would have turned out if Fraser Forster didn’t whiff on a routine clearance? It changed how the Saints approached the match, undoubtedly, and opened up space for Palace to counter attack.

Despite all his struggles and scares with Newcastle and Palace, Pardew hasn’t been fired in six years despite generally being regarded as a poor manager. And he’ll hang on again, thanks to Forster.

We make a significant effort to find something insightful to say about every Premier League game every week, and 99 percent of the time, we succeed. In the case of Stoke’s 2-0 win over Burnley, the basics are all we have.

Burnley wasn’t that bad, but they can’t say they deserved a point either. Stoke finished a couple of average chances. Burnley didn’t finish theirs. The better team won at home. We learned nothing. We’ll watch both of them again next week to see if anything changes.

Just watch this! Goodness!

This was the second of three goals for Sanchez, who also had an assist. Opta tweeted this after his assist and first goal -- he actually has 24 goals and six assist in Arsenal’s last 24 games.

He’s just a joy to watch, every week.

AFC Bournemouth hosts Liverpool at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, followed by Everton vs. Manchester United at 11 a.m. On Monday, Middlesbrough takes on Hull City at 3 p.m. All of those games are on NBCSN and can be seen on NBC Sports Live. For listings from other countries, check out Live Soccer TV.