Fulham's second-half pressure undoes Villa's first-half lead
Fulham's second-half response turned Aston Villa's first-half lead into a 1-1 draw when Zion Suzuki spilled Alex Iwobi's corner over his own line. John McGinn's missed penalty had already denied Villa the chance to make their early control count.
Fulham's second-half response turned Aston Villa's first-half lead into a 1-1 draw when Zion Suzuki spilled Alex Iwobi's corner over his own line. John McGinn's missed penalty had already denied Villa the chance to make their early control count.
Aston Villa
- 1Marco Bizot
- 2Emiliano Buendía
- 3João Gomes
- 4Taylor Harwood-Bellis
- 5Tyrone Mings
- 6Brian Madjo
- 7Alejandro Garnacho
- 8Ross Barkley
- 9Ibrahim Mbaye
Fulham
- 1Rodrigo Muniz
- 2César Palacios
- 3Kevin
- 4Kenny Tete
- 5Joachim Andersen
- 6Benjamin Lecomte
- 7Hugo Larsson
- 8Tom Cairney
- 9Manuel Ángel
Villa began with the greater authority. Leon Goretzka threatened twice with headers from McGinn corners before a VAR review found Sander Berge had handled the ball. McGinn took the resulting penalty but struck the crossbar in the 16th minute.
Fulham remained dangerous on the counter. Suzuki produced an excellent one-handed save to deny Oscar Bobb, but Villa eventually found their opening. Johan Manzambi supplied Nicolas Jackson, who worked his way through the defence and finished past Bernd Leno in the 39th minute.
The balance changed after the interval. Fulham became the more assertive side and created several openings. Suzuki had made important saves to protect Villa's lead, but his failure to hold Iwobi's corner allowed the ball to cross the line in the 64th minute. The goal was credited as an own goal.
Villa pushed for a winner late on, with Pau Torres heading wide twice, but Fulham held firm. Villa now turn to Tuesday's Champions League trip to Barcelona, while the point leaves them ninth on 12 points. Fulham are 15th with nine.
