Youri Tielemans' first-half strike gave Aston Villa a boost to their chances of returning to the Champions League with a vital 1-0 win at Fulham.
Villa, who reached the quarter-finals of the competition this season, remain in the fight for a top-five place in the Premier League, which would give them a chance to return to Europe's elite next season.
Tielemans' 12th-minute goal was decisive for United, securing a vital three points that extended their unbeaten run at Villa Park to 20 games in all competitions and allowed them to recover from last week's FA Cup semi-final defeat to Crystal Palace.
They are level on 60 points with Nottingham Forest and Chelsea and will now be hoping their rivals drop points over the weekend as the battle for a top-five place comes to a close in the coming weeks.
Fulham's defeat, which saw a goal disallowed for a handball, has hurt their European ambitions as they were left fighting for eighth place, which could have led to participation in the Europa Conference League.
Villa started the match quickly and took an early lead, which proved decisive.
John McGinn's corner was intercepted by Tielemans but his header was too powerful for Bernd Leno to save.
Referee Rob Jones played too prominent a role, his frequent whistles interrupting play and the chances were good in the first half.
Tielemans, a superb player, almost added a second late in the first half, curling the ball into the top corner from 25 yards, but Leno's fingertips reached it and Jones again made a mistake, awarding a goal kick.
Villa should have doubled their lead less than 30 seconds after the break when Matty Cash broke down the right and his pass was perfect for Ollie Watkins, but the England striker failed to hit the target and the opportunity was wasted.
Fulham had the ball in the net on 50 minutes when Ryan Sessegnon's shot towards the bottom corner was hit on the arm as he attempted the attack and was rightly disallowed.
The Cottagers had another chance soon after as they went on the attack quickly and Alex Iwobi set up Harry Wilson to shoot, but the midfielder failed to get the ball across and it ended up in the hands of Emiliano Martinez.
The game remained even and Villa had a great chance to double their lead just after the hour mark.
Morgan Rodgers' millimetre-perfect pass found Watkins in clear position, but his low shot was saved by Leno's legs.
Villa continued to attack in search of that elusive second goal and Donyell Malen failed to collect Rodgers' pass before firing wide.
The Dutchman then hit the crossbar late in injury time when he collected a pass from Jacob Ramsey but Villa did enough to hold on for the win.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
