Aston Villa climbed back into the Premier League's top four after coming from behind to beat Fulham 3-1 in an entertaining clash at Craven Cottage that saw both teams finish with 10 men.
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There was a frantic start to the match, with Villa attacker Morgan Rogers cancelling out Raul Jimenez's earlier goal inside the opening nine minutes.
Fulham threatened regularly in the first half but were ultimately made to pay for their profligacy, as Jimenez headed a glorious opportunity wide from four yards out, before Andreas Pereira had a penalty saved by Emiliano Martinez.
Villa capitalised when Ollie Watkins put them in front for the first time just before the hour-mark and, shortly after Joachim Andersen's straight red card, an Issa Diop own goal put the result beyond doubt.
Unai Emery's side also finished a man down after substitute Jaden Philogene was sent off late on, but they move up to fourth in the league table on 17 points, a total that is now six higher than Fulham, who drop to ninth after a second straight defeat.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
7 | +11 | 18 |
| 2 |
Man City
MCI
|
7 | +9 | 17 |
| 3 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
8 | +7 | 17 |
| 4 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
8 | +5 | 17 |
| 5 |
Brighton
BHA
|
8 | +4 | 15 |
| 6 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
7 | +8 | 14 |
| 7 |
Spurs
TOT
|
8 | +9 | 13 |
| 8 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
8 | 0 | 12 |
How the match unfolded
The hosts made an ideal start, taking the lead in the fifth minute. Jimenez showed great strength to hold off Pau Torres and latch onto goalkeeper Bernd Leno's long kick before drilling past Martinez.
However, the visitors were level just four minutes later, neatly working their way from one end to the other, before Rogers' shot wrong-footed Leno via a heavy Calvin Bassey deflection.
Fulham spurned two golden opportunities to regain their advantage before the break. First, Jimenez headed wide and, after Matty Cash was penalised for handball following a VAR review, Pereira's tame 27th-minute spot-kick was comfortably gathered by Martinez.
Villa capitalised, with Watkins powering home a header from Youri Tielemans' near-post corner.
And Fulham’s quest to get back into the contest then became even harder when Andersen was dismissed for bringing down Watkins, who was racing clear in the 65th minute.
The visitors took advantage once more to seal the points four minutes later, as Diop turned Lucas Digne’s cross beyond his own goalkeeper.
They held on comfortably despite seeing out stoppage time with 10 men after Philogene was given his marching orders for two bookable offences.
Fulham rue missed opportunities once more
For their second Premier League match in succession, Fulham were left to wonder what might have been.
Before the international break, Marco Silva's side struck first against Manchester City and should have extended their lead and potentially claimed all three points at the Etihad Stadium.
But their poor finishing let the Premier League champions off the hook, with City coming from behind to prevail 3-2 in what was a similarly lively clash.
Two weeks on, though they were pegged back again, Fulham created opportunities to regain their advantage, but did not take the most glaring through Jimenez's close-range header and Pereira's tame penalty.
The let-offs sparked Villa back into life and they sounded a warning when Rogers was unable to convert a decent chance just before half-time.
The visitors then asserted much more control after the break and completed the comeback to condemn the hosts to their first home league defeat of the season.
Having now lost two in a row, next week’s trip to Goodison Park to face Everton has just become a lot more important if Silva wants to maintain some kind of momentum from what had been an impressive start to the campaign.
Villa enjoy another successful trip to capital
Villa arrived in London on a run of eight victories from their last 12 Premier League games in the capital.
Emery’s side were also on an eight-match unbeaten streak across all competitions, a run which included their famous UEFA Champions League win over Bayern Munich, and there was no panic in their ranks when they fell behind after just five minutes.
The visitors responded well and, though their equaliser was fortuitous after Bassey’s deflection, it came after a lovely flowing move from one end of the pitch to the other.
They enjoyed most of the possession during the first half, but survived a couple of major scares to stay level in the contest.
After doing so, Villa went through the gears in the second half and impressively limited Fulham’s attacking impact.
They were thoroughly deserving of their lead by the time England international Watkins brilliantly headed in from Tielemans' corner to make it five goals in as many Premier League games.
And it was from another cross that the third goal arrived, as Diop put through his own net to ensure yet another win for Villa in London.
Emery’s men now have three home games in three different competitions to negotiate, but their next away fixture is another trip to the capital, a crucial match against Tottenham Hotspur on 3 November.
Club reports
Fulham report | Aston Villa report
What managers said
Marco Silva: "We knew from the beginning that they would stop us from the build-up. We knew we had to mix our game up. One of them was to go in-behind and that's what we saw. The goal is a good example of that, but unfortunately they equalised too close to our goal. We can talk about the own goal, the set piece goal and missing a penalty, but in terms of performance it wasn't our best."
Unai Emery: "Today we corrected a lot of things we did wrong at Ipswich. We wanted to stop them playing with the ball and stop them offensively. We did a fantastic job. We have the best goalkeeper in the world, Emiliano Martínez. It means matches like today and moments like today with the penalty to be there to save us."
Next five PL fixtures
Key facts
Villa have rescued 10 points from losing positions in the Premier League this season, the joint most in the division alongside Man City.
Leno became just the second Fulham goalkeeper to assist a goal in the Premier League after Mark Crossley v Bolton in November 2005.
Jimenez has scored 10 goals in his last 12 Premier League starts – as many as in his previous 58 beforehand. Indeed, the Mexican has now either scored (six goals) or assisted (one) in each of his last six starts in the competition.
Against no side has Watkins scored more league goals than against Fulham (six – level with Brighton).
