There was little Brad Guzan could do to stop Robin van Persie and Manchester United’s march to a 20th league title on Monday.
Behind a first-half hat trick from the star Dutch striker, Guzan and his Aston Villa side found themselves on the painful end of a victory lap as Sir Alex Ferguson’s men celebrated a 3-0 win at Old Trafford that clinched the English Premier League title, Ferguson’s 13th as United manager.
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Guzan was helpless on all three of van Persie’s goals, beginning just 83 seconds in off a feed from Ryan Giggs, continuing with a gorgeous thumping volley off Wayne Rooney’s long, weighted pass in the 13th minute and then rounding the US No. 2 just 20 minutes later off another feed from Giggs to complete the hat trick.
United are now 16 points clear of second-place Manchester City and dethroned the defending EPL champions with four matches to play.
Guzan and Villa, meanwhile, failed to put further distance between themselves and the drop zone – they remain in 17th place on 34 points, just three ahead of 18th-place Wigan Athletic with four to play.
