Aston Villa have appointed Steven Gerrard as manager on a three-and-a-half-year deal, ending his three-year reign at Rangers.

The former Liverpool captain, 41, leaves the Scottish champions having guided them to a first league title in 10 years last season.

Compensation of between £3.25-4m agreed with the Scottish champions for Gerrard and his assistant Gary McAllister.

Gerrard replaces Dean Smith, who was sacked on Sunday after a run of five successive defeats.

Villa are 16th in the Premier League and two points above the relegation zone.

“Aston Villa is a club with a rich history and tradition in English football and I am immensely proud to become its new head coach,” said Gerrard.

“In my conversations with [co-owners] Nassef [Sawiris], Wes [Edens] and the rest of the board, it was apparent how ambitious their plans are for the club and I am looking forward to helping them achieve their aims.”

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everybody associated with Glasgow Rangers for giving me the opportunity to manage such an iconic football club.

“Helping them secure a record-breaking 55th league title will always hold a special place in my heart. I would like to wish the players, staff and supporters the very best for the future.”

Steven Gerrard who is the New Aston Villa Manager, took his first steps in senior management with Scottish Premiership side Rangers in 2018, and leaves with them four points clear of rivals Celtic at the top of the table.

Brazil qualified for World Cup after defeating Colombia on Thursday. Brazil claimed a 1-0 victory over Colombia in Sao Paulo to become the first South American team to qualify for Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Lucas Paqueta got the only goal on 72 minutes as the Brazilians maintained their unbeaten record in the South American qualfiers.

Brazil lead the 10-team South American qualifying group with 34 points from 12 games, nine clear of second-placed Argentina.

The top four teams qualify automatically for Qatar 2022 and the fifth-placed side goes into an inter-regional playoff.

The win extended Brazil’s home run in the qualifiers to 11 consecutive victories, a record in the South American region and also marked their 10th consecutive home qualifier without conceding a goal, another record. With Brazil ahead of Colombia To Secure World Cup Berth, they might as well get into the next round and be potential winners.

Colombia’s defeat saw them drop out of the four automatic qualifying positions in the single South American group as Chile overtook them after a third successive win, 1-0 away to Paraguay.

Wilmar Barrios had the first chance of the match, lashing a half volley narrowly over the bar as Colombia made a bright start.

A typically muscular run into the box by Duvan Zapata saw him get off a shot that flashed past the post.

Colombia were proving tough opponents and creating the clearer chances.

William Tesillo should have done much better at the back post when picked out by Juan Cuadrado’s deep cross but headed into a crowd of players.

Brazil struggled to create any notable chances with Paqueta’s shot from outside the box easily gathered by David Ospina and Neymar’s free-kick blocked by the wall.

Colombia were always dangerous on the break and Luis Diaz whipped an effort from outside the box narrowly wide, but their failure to test Alisson Becker in the Brazil goal was indicative of a team that came into the match on the back of three successive goalless draws.

Brazil were unable to get behind Colombia’s organized defense and a deflected cross from full-back Danilo that hit the side-netting was as close as they came until Marquinhos headed inches off target from a corner in first half stoppage time.

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