Before their Europa League final, Unai Emery’s Villans shattered the Reds defense in Birmingham, securing a spot in the Champions League.
Aston Villa secured their place in the next Champions League by outclassing Liverpool (4-2), a direct competitor in distress, at home during the penultimate matchday of the Premier League.
Birmingham’s club (4th, 62 points) is guaranteed a top-5 finish qualifying them for the major European competition, unlike their opponent of the evening (5th, 59 points), still under threat from Bournemouth (55 points). The Reds will rely on a slip-up from the current sixth-placed team, Manchester City, on Tuesday to secure their ticket before the ultimate match of the season, which they will play at home against Brentford.
Aston Villa can approach their final chances with a free spirit, whether it’s the Europa League final against Freiburg or the final national encounter at Manchester City, now without any stakes.
Lucas Digne decisive
Unai Emery’s team resisted the domination of their visitors in the first half, especially against the efforts of young Rio Ngumoha (17 years old) on the left. They opened the scoring, against the run of play, with a well-executed combination: a short corner from Lucas Digne played to a teammate, quickly laid off to the French defender who found Morgan Rogers, scorer of a beautiful curled strike (42nd minute, 1-0).
Liverpool got back on track with a set-piece, as captain Virgil van Dijk headed in a free-kick from Dominik Szoboszlai (52nd minute, 1-1).
But their very fragile defense then succumbed to a brace from center-forward Ollie Watkins (57th, 73rd), whose awakening comes at the right moment with the English national team call-up approaching, and a fine strike from captain John McGinn (89th, 4-1). Van Dijk reduced the deficit (92nd, 4-2), but could not prevent Liverpool from suffering their twelfth Premier League defeat, as the outgoing champions.
