Manchester City and Chelsea both secured their Champions League places with victories on the final day of the Premier League season and Newcastle United joined them despite stumbling to a last-day defeat at home to Everton on Sunday.
City, whose season has generally been one to forget, only really required a draw at Fulham but cruised to a 2-0 victory which meant they finished in third place.
Enzo Maresca's Chelsea, who began the day in fifth place - the last spot for Champions League qualification - won 1-0 at seventh-placed Nottingham Forest to finish fourth.
Newcastle will be breathing a sigh of relief as their 1-0 defeat by Everton could have opened the door for Aston Villa to climb above them.
But Villa went down 2-0 at Manchester United to end in sixth place and take a place in the Europa League.
City ended up with 71 points, Chelsea on 69 and Villa on 66 but with an inferior goal difference to Newcastle on the same points.