Gerrard under more pressure after Villa loses 3-0 at Fulham

LONDON (AP) — Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard was taunted by Fulham fans after his team’s 3-0 loss in the Premier League on Thursday.

“Sacked in the morning,” sang sections of the Craven Cottage crowd after strikes from Harrison Reed and Aleksandar Mitrovic, as well as an own goal from Tyrone Mings.

Gerrard said before the match that he was confident he could turn Villa’s season around. But defeat leaves his team just above the relegation zone, level on points with 18th-place Wolverhampton.

A miserable night also saw Villa reduced to 10 men when Douglas Luiz was sent off in the second half for a head butt on Mitrovic.

Fulham dominated from the start but had to wait until the 36th minute to find the breakthrough. Villa was unable to successfully clear from a corner and the ball fell to Reed at the edge of the box. The midfielder took a touch before firing the ball past Emiliano Martinez.

Any hope Villa had of mounting a comeback evaporated in the space of six second-half minutes.

First, Luiz was sent off after referee Michael Oliver reviewed video footage of his clash with Mitrovic.

Then, Matty Cash handled Mitrovic’s shot in the box, leading to a penalty, which the Fulham striker converted.

Fulham wrapped up the scoring when Mings turned a Neeskens Kebano ball across the box into his own net in the 83rd minute.

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson