Burton Albion beat Cambridge United 2-1 to all but mathematically seal League One survival and relegate their opponents at the same time.

The Brewers' victory puts them three points clear of the bottom four with two matches to play - one game more than relegation rivals Crawley and Bristol Rovers.

Albion still need a point to be mathematically sure of safety but with a far superior goal difference to both of those teams, Gary Bowyer's side are essentially safe.

The loss, meanwhile, capped a disappointing season for Cambridge, which has seen them win just nine league games and means a return to the fourth tier for Neil Harris' side after four campaigns in League One.

Both sides had players sent off in first-half stoppage time - JJ McKiernan for Burton and Ryan Loft for Cambridge - before Jon Dadi Bodvarsson fired the Brewers ahead shortly after half-time.

Elias Kachunga equalised for the visitors with six minutes to go but Dylan Williams' goal in the third minute of stoppage time condemned the U's to relegation.

The game came to life with two red cards in the space of a couple of minutes in first-half added time.

Substitute Loft was shown a straight red for lashing out at Udoka Godwin-Malife after an altercation on the touchline and Burton's McKiernan followed him down the tunnel moments later, picking up a second yellow for an aerial challenge on U's goalkeeper Jack Stevens.

Albion got the breakthrough three minutes after half-time with Bodvarsson picking up Williams' pass and firing home his first goal since January.

Burton could not find a second to kill the game and Cambridge responded with an equaliser when Kachunga poked home at the back post.

But Albion were not to be denied as Williams was fed by substitute Fabio Tavares after good work from Anthony Forde and the Chelsea loanee slid the ball in from a tight angle.

Match report details supplied by PA Media.

After guiding Cambridge to the safety of 18th place last season, head coach Garry Monk began the new campaign with a revamped squad, bolstered by experienced additions like Korey Smith, Gary Gardner and Shayne Lavery.

What followed, though, was the worst of starts as they managed just one point - a 4-4 draw with Blackpool - from their opening nine games, although Monk insisted results did not mirror their performances.

The U's arrested the slide with back-to-back wins over Wigan, Stevenage and Burton Albion in October before being brought down to earth with the biggest of bumps as they were thrashed 6-1 at Peterborough United in the Cambridgeshire derby.

Monk said it was a "bitter pill to swallow" and another depressing run of five successive defeats around Christmas and new year led to the board providing the 'vote of confidence' which is often the precursor to a manager's exit, citing as a reason that "the injuries we have suffered throughout the season have meant he has struggled to field anywhere near a fully-fit squad on a weekly basis".

The former Birmingham City and Sheffield Wednesday boss was given an extended chance to turn things round, but Monk eventually left on 16 February following a 1-0 home defeat by Exeter City.

"I think Garry struggled to get the right balance across the team in terms of attacking and defending, keeping the ball but also not exposing ourselves - and they're some of the reasons we didn't get the results we needed," defender Michael Morrison told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire last week.

"If you look at the start if we'd got three or four more points, the position we'd have been in now, it would have made a big difference."

What came next following Monk's exit was totally unexpected as the club took the highly unusual step of appointing his two immediate predecessors to fill the gap - Mark Bonner as director of football and Neil Harris as head coach.

There was an immediate bounce as Harris - who had ended his first spell as boss 12 months earlier after only 14 games to take over at Millwall - began with wins over Stockport County and Crawley Town, both with clean sheets.

But injuries continued to dog the team and seven games without a win left them too much to do over the final weeks.