Villa relegated as Aguero treble takes Man City third

LONDON: Aston Villa’s longexpected relegation from the Premier League was finally confirmed with a 1-0 loss away to Manchester United on Saturday as teenage rising star Marcus Rashford scored his seventh goal in 12 games.

The 18-year-old striker, also on target in United’s FA Cup quarterfinal replay win over West Ham United in midweek, struck in the 32nd minute when he turned in Antonio Valencia’s low cross.

Defeat left bottom-of-the-table Villa 15 points shy of safety with only a maximum of 12 on offer to the Birmingham club in their four remaining league matches this season.

Villa, under the caretaker charge of Eric Black after former manager Remi Garde was sacked last month, have won just three times in 34 league games this campaign and Saturday’s loss saw them drop down to the second-tier of English football for the first time in 29 years.

“It’s a mood of disappointment,” said Black. “What I will say is today I thought they were outstanding.

“People in certain places will make sure that Villa will come back, I’m confident of that.”

United manager Louis van Gaal criticised his side’s display, saying: “I’m not too happy with the performance. We have to finish the games a lot earlier and today we didn’t do that.”

Saturday’s late-kick-off then saw City pull four points clear of United and leapfrog Arsenal into third place, with Sergio Aguero scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 win away to fallen champions Chelsea that came just days after Manuel Pellegrini’s men reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Aguero finished a quick counterattack to give City a 33rd-minute lead at Stamford Bridge and doubled their advantage early in the second half with another breakaway goal. - AFP