London, England

Robin van Persie completed a hat-trick in the first half to propel Manchester United to its 13th Premier League title with a 3-0 rout of Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

The 13 Premier League titles all came with manager Sir Alex Ferguson at the helm. United had seven English titles to its credit when Ferguson took over in 1986.

Ferguson won his first in 1992-93, and 20 years later he has guided his side to their 20th league crown, moving two titles clear of rival Liverpool, which won its 18th and most recent in 1990.

Ferguson orchestrated the move to sign van Persie in the summer to avoid another bitter finish when Manchester City took the title in the final game of the season last year.

"I'm delighted for all the players, for myself, the staff and the supporters. You can go on and on about losing a title [last season] but at the end of the day, our consistency for the last 20 years is unbelievable," Ferguson said.

It took less than two minutes for van Persie to give United the lead, receiving a deep pass from Ryan Giggs and buried it from four yards out.

Van Persie's second goal came 13 minutes after when he booted in a long ball from Wayne Rooney from 20 yards for a 2-0 United lead.

Then, van Persie completed the trifecta when he found the back of the net despite facing four defenders in the 33rd minute.

Villa had their chances throughout the match, including Christian Benteke's attempt in the first half and a header from Andreas Weimann that van Persie cleared.

With his trifecta, the 29-year-old van Persie raised his season tally to 24, ahead of controversial Liverpool striker Luis Suarez for the Golden Boot award.

Under Premier League policy, Manchester United will receive the championship trophy during its last home game against Swansea City on May 12.

With the loss, Villa remained a place above the bottom three, three points clear of Wigan Athletic, which has a match in hand and have a better goal difference.