London – Steven Gerrard was pushed closer to the sack as struggling Aston Villa crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Fulham, while Leicester climbed off the bottom of the Premier League with a 2-0 win against Leeds on Thursday.
Gerrard and his players were booed off at full-time by Villa’s furious fans after a wretched display extended their winless run to four matches.
Having won just two matches this season, Villa are above the relegation zone only due to their slight goals scored advantage over third-bottom Wolves.
Gerrard has struggled to win over Villa supporters since arriving from Rangers to replace Dean Smith last season.
The former Liverpool and England midfielder won the Scottish title with Rangers, ending Celtic’s long period of dominance.
But he has been unable to build on that impressive work since moving to Villa Park and now faces a fight to save his job.
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Fulham kicked off without a win in their previous three matches, but Villa were unable to take advantage.
Harrison Reed opened the scoring with a fierce strike from the edge of the area after Villa failed to clear a corner in the 36th minute.
Issa Diop had to block Ollie Watkins’ effort on the line as Villa briefly threatened.
But Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz was shown a second-half red card following a VAR review of an altercation with Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic.
That was the signal for Villa to collapse to a second successive defeat after last weekend’s 2-0 loss to Chelsea.
Matty Cash’s handball led to a penalty that Mitrovic converted for his eighth goal this season in the 68th minute.
Rubbing salt into Gerrard’s wounds, Villa defender Tyrone Mings put Neeskens Kebano’s cross into his own net for Fulham’s third goal in the 83rd minute.
While Gerrard is under fire, Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers earned some breathing space with a victory that dragged Leeds into the relegation fight.
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After failing to win any of their first seven games – a woeful sequence that included six successive defeats – Leicester have taken maximum points in two of their last four matches.
Leicester took the lead in the 16th minute when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall sent Dennis Praet away down the right flank.
Dewsbury-Hall’s cross was intended for Barnes but Robin Koch slid in and poked the ball beyond the stranded Illan Meslier into his own net.
Luis Sinisterra and Crysencio Summerville both went close to equalising for Leeds.
But Harvey Barnes added the killer second goal in the 35th minute.
Jamie Vardy backheeled to Dewsbury-Hall on the edge of the area and he found the unmarked Barnes, who steered his third goal of the season under Meslier.
Leicester’s climb to 19th place pushed Nottingham Forest to the bottom of the table, setting the stage for the Foxes’ crucial clash with fellow strugglers Wolves this weekend.
Leeds are languishing in 16th after seven games without a win and only goal difference keeps them out of the relegation zone as the pressure mounts on boss Jesse Marsch.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Twitter/ @FabrizioRomano
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