Steven Gerrard was sacked as Aston Villa manager less than two hours after his struggling side crashed to a dismal 3-0 defeat at Fulham on Thursday.
Gerrard paid the price for Villa’s wretched start to the season, which sees the club languishing just one place above the Premier League relegation zone.
“Aston Villa Football Club can confirm that head coach Steven Gerrard has left the club with immediate effect,” a statement said.
“We would like to thank Steven for his hard work and commitment and wish him well for the future.”
Earlier, Aston Villa had capitulated after Harrison Reed gave the home side the lead, drilling home after Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez had punched a corner into the midfielder’s path.
Andreas Pereira went close on two occasions, while Aleksandar Mitrovic had a far-post header cleared off the line by Tyrone Mings as the home side dominated the first half.
Villa’s evening went from bad to worse just after the hour mark, when Douglas Luiz was shown a straight red card after being adjudged by the video assistant referee to have head-butted Mitrovic in an off-the-ball altercation.
The home side wasted little time in capitalising on their numerical advantage, Mitrovic doubling their lead from the penalty spot after the striker’s shot had struck Matty Cash on the arm. Martinez managed to get both hands on Mitrovic’s effort but was unable to keep it out.
The visitors’ misery was complete when Mings diverted Neeskens Kebano’s low cross into his own net – a goal which was greeted by chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” by sections of the away end.
