Steven Gerrard Fired After Aston Villa Self-Destruct At Fulham

Steven Gerrard was fired by Aston Villa moments after his side had been thrashed 3-0 by Fulham on Thursday night.

The defeat left Villa 17th in the Premier League table with just nine points after 11 games.

Villa self-destructed at Craven Cottage, where they conceded a penalty, scored an own goal and had a player sent off.

But Fulham's first goal was a thing of beauty as Harrison Reed arrowed a fine shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the 18-yard box.

Villa's 23-minute meltdown began on the hour-mark when Douglas Luiz was shown a straight red card after a VAR review found him guilty of headbutting Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Moments later, Matty Cash handled the ball inside the penalty area and Mitrovic converted from the spot, despite Emiliano Martinez coming agonizingly close to pulling off a save.

Fulham's third goal came when Tyrone Mings deflected a Neeskens Kebano cross into his own net.

A statement published on Villa's official website after the game confirmed that Gerrard had "left the club with immediate effect."

An unnamed club spokesperson was quoted in the statement as saying: "We would like to thank Steven for his hard work and commitment and wish him well for the future."

Steven Gerrard pictured with his head bowed after losing his final game as Aston Villa manager

IMAGO/PA Images/John Walton

This was the first time that Gerrard had been fired.

He left his first managerial job on his own terms when he moved to Villa from Rangers in November 2021, just six months after completing an unbeaten season in the Scottish Premiership.

Gerrard ended his time at Rangers having won 64.8% of his matches. But his final win percentage at Villa was just 32.5%.

He led Villa to victory 13 times in 40 matches, losing 19 and drawing eight.