LONDON — Sergio Aguero scored a hat trick as Manchester City sealed Queens Park Rangers' relegation from the Premier League with a 6-0 victory Sunday. Meanwhile, Liverpool's hopes of a Champions League place were all but ended despite Steven Gerrard's goal in a 1-1 draw with English title-winner Chelsea. It was Gerrard's final match at Stamford Bridge before he joins the LA Galaxy after the end of this season. Chelsea captain John Terry headed in from a corner to put the Blues 1-0 up in just the fifth minute. QPR's humiliating defeat left it bottom of the table, nine points adrift of safety and with only a maximum of six available from its final two league games. By contrast, victory saw deposed champion City stays second behind Chelsea and secure its place in next season's Champions League. QPR will now return to the Championship following its promotion via the play-offs last season. It will be joined in the second tier by Burnley, whose relegation was confirmed Saturday. The third and final relegation place is currently occupied by Hull City but several other clubs are also in danger of being demoted. Sunday's result in west London also guaranteed Arsenal, currently third ahead of its match at home to Swansea Monday, a Champions League place. Wolfsburg books CL spot Forward Bas Dost scored twice as VfL Wolfsburg eased past struggling Paderborn 3-1 Sunday to secure a spot in next season's Champions League group stage after making sure of a top-three finish with two matches to spare. Paderborn is in 17th place. Wolfsburg, which last played in Europe's premier club competition after winning the 2009 Bundesliga title, can also clinch the German Cup when it takes on Borussia Dortmund in the final later this month. The Wolves are second on 65 points, two ahead of Borussia Moenchengladbach, and seven ahead of fourth-placed Bayer Leverkusen. Schalke 04's slump continued with a 2-0 loss at Cologne. Atalanta keeps survival hopes alive Atalanta clung on to win 3-2 at Palermo to boost its chances of avoiding the drop and ensure Cesena, which was beaten 3-2 by Sassuolo, was relegated from Serie A Sunday. Atalanta moved 12 points ahead of Cesena with three matches remaining. It is eight points ahead of 17th-place Cagliari and has the better head-to-head record. Elsewhere, Chievo Verona drew 2-2 against Hellas Verona in a local derby match and Sampdoria boosted its chances of securing a European spot by winning 4-1 at Udinese. Samp moved provisionally into fifth, two points above Fiorentina. Napoli damaged its chances of finishing in the top three as it drew 2-2 at already relegated Parma. Roma's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League suffered a setback as a five-match unbeaten sequence against Milan ended in a 2-1 defeat at the San Siro Saturday. — Agencies
