Villa relegated as Rashford nets United winner

Football Soccer - Manchester United v Aston Villa - Barclays Premier League - Old Trafford - 16/4/16 Aston Villa's Joleon Lescott looks dejected at the end of the match after being relegated from the Premier League Reuters / Phil Noble

REUTERS - Aston Villa were relegated from the Premier League for the first time since it began in 1992 when they suffered their 24th loss of the season in a 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford on Saturday.

It was Villa's ninth successive league defeat and they never looked like securing the win that would have kept alive their slim hopes of avoiding the drop.

United went ahead after 32 minutes when 18-year-old Marcus Rashford found room in the box before picking his spot past Villa keeper Brad Guzan for his seventh goal of the season.

England captain Wayne Rooney made his first appearance in the league since mid-February after fully recovering from a knee injury before being replaced by Jesse Lingaard after 67 minutes.

(Reporting by Mike Collett; Editing by Toby Davis)