Aston Villa move up to fifth after impressive victory at home to Fulham
Both teams came out showing plenty of intent but it was Villa who got the first effort off, with Lucas Digne teeing up Moussa Diaby for a first-time shot that brought a brilliant save from Bernd Leno.
The hosts remained in the ascendency and eventually made the breakthrough in the 27th minute, largely thanks to the work of Youri Tielemans on his first PL start for the club.
The Belgian made an intelligent run and delivered a dangerous cross that narrowly evaded Diaby but was turned into the net by Antonee Robinson.
Confidence was flowing for Unai Emery’s side and Matty Cash embodied that at both ends.
The right-back made a lungbursting run forward to reach Pau Torres’ pass but saw his effort saved, then made a superb recovery to deny Wiilian 24 seconds before John McGinn doubled their lead.
A battle had been unfolding between the Scotsman and João Palhinha all half and the Villa captain deceived the Portuguese before sending a pinpoint strike into the bottom corner.
Fulham had a promising opportunity moments after the break following Alex Iwobi’s brilliant run, but Emiliano Martínez got the slightest of touches on Raúl Jiménez’s strike to turn it onto the post and Willian couldn’t hit the target with his follow-up.
Despite their persistence, any frustrations for the visitors were compounded when João Palhinha was shown the yellow that keeps him out of the next match following his latest foul on McGinn.
Villa took the game away from them shortly after the hour mark, punishing Robinson’s slip with a blistering move that culminated in Ollie Watkins touching the ball home from Leon Bailey’s low ball.
There was a lift for Fulham as Robinson squared the ball for Jiménez to score his first PL goal since March 2022, but the Cottagers still suffered the third loss in their last four league games despite pushing until the end. Villa, meanwhile, have won 13 consecutive home matches in the PL.
Flashscore Man of the Match: John McGinn (Aston Villa)
