Cardiff City Relegated from Premier League After 3-2 Loss to Crystal Palace

Cardiff City became the third and final team relegated from the Premier League after losing 3-2 at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Goals from Wilfried Zaha, Michy Batshuayi and Andros Townsend dispatched the Bluebirds back to the Championship after just one season, with Cardiff responding through a Martin Kelly own goal and a strike from Bobby Reid.

It means manager Neil Warnock's team join Fulham and Huddersfield Town as those making a quick return to English football's second tier.

The result means Brighton & Hove Albion are assured of safety ahead of Sunday's game away to Arsenal, with the Seagulls' status secured by rivals Palace.

It marks the second time in recent years Cardiff have only last one season in the Premier League. The club was promoted on the watch of then-manager Malky Mackay in 2013.

City were relegated after a tumultuous season during which Mackay was sacked and replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The current Manchester United boss couldn't stave off the drop in 2014, and Neil Warnock has been unable to do it five years later despite providing some entertainment along the way:

Their squad has obvious deficiencies at both ends of the pitch, as Cardiff have struggled to score goals and leaked too many.

Finding the net a mere 30 times in 37 matches makes the Bluebirds the second-lowest scorers in the division behind Huddersfield. Meanwhile, the 66 conceded gives Cardiff the third-most surrendered behind Huddersfield and Fulham.

Even so, Warnock and the Bluebirds can point to several moments of misfortune and wonder what might have been.

One of the most notable came when Chelsea won 2-1 at the Cardiff City Stadium in March. Warnock was enraged when Cesar Azpilicueta equalised for the visitors from an offside position, per Alex Smith of the Daily Mirror: "Against the big teams, you have to have VAR because you don't get the big decisions."

Stu Forster/Getty Images

It was one of many outbursts against officials that earned charges and fines from the FA. As a measure of the respect he's earned, Cardiff supporters started a crowdfunding page to help pay Warnock's £20,000 fine.

There was also tragedy when January signing Nantes striker Emiliano Sala died in a plane crash over the English channel, along with pilot David Ibbotson, shortly after signing for the club.

If Warnock stays in the job, he faces a challenge to rebuild a squad set to lose some of its best players. Chief among them is holding midfielder Aron Gunnarsson, who will sign for Al-Arabi this summer.

Meanwhile, cultured playmaker Victor Camarasa will return to Real Betis at the end of his loan spell. He's already drawn interest from Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City and West Ham United, per Mundo Deportivo (h/t Calciomercato and WalesOnline's Katie Sands).