BIRMINGHAM, England, May 15 (Reuters) - Ollie Watkins scored twice as Aston Villa eased to a 4-2 Premier League victory over Liverpool on Friday to seal Champions League qualification for next season and leave their visitors looking over their shoulder at the chasing pack.
The win moves Villa into fourth place with 62 points from their 37 games, leapfrogging their opponents, who have 59 points from the same number of matches.
Liverpool remain vulnerable to being caught by both Bournemouth and Brighton & Hove Albion in the race for a Champions League place as they slipped to a 12th defeat of the season with a single point from the last nine available.
Morgan Rogers gave Villa a first half lead before Virgil van Dijk equalised for Liverpool early in the second period and then got another in added time.
But Watkins’ double and a brilliant late fourth from John McGinn sealed the win for Unai Emery’s side, who head into Wednesday’s Europa League final against Freiburg in buoyant mood.
"We had to get over line," McGinn told Sky Sports. It allows us to be excited and enjoy Wednesday properly.
"He (Watkins) was obviously disappointed in March (being left out of the England squad) but if it gave him a kick up the backside, he's certainly responded in the best way.
"We're so fortunate to have him, what he's done for this club the past few seasons has been incredible. Hopefully he can carry that into next week."
Villa head to Istanbul to meet Freiburg with one of their major goals this season already achieved, and the chance to lift silverware to cap their campaign.
The hosts took the lead on 42 minutes against the run of play. Lucas Digne found Rogers in space on the left-hand side of the box and the forward curled it into the far corner.
Liverpool levelled on 52 minutes when Van Dijk headed home at the back post from Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick, before 17-year-old winger Rio Ngumoha struck the base of the post from the edge of the box.
But a slip from Szoboszlai presented Watkins with a second goal for the home side, and Emiliano Buendia struck the Liverpool post with a curling shot as Villa looked the more likely to score again.
And so it proved as Watkins netted his second via a rebound from close range.
McGinn curled in a beautiful shot to make it 4-1 on 89 minutes, before Van Dijk’s second headed goal brought some respectability to the scoreline.
(Reporting by Nick Said, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
