Aston Villa lost 3-0 to Fulham Match Report

Fulham got back to winning ways after three goals gave them three important points at The Cottage on Thursday night. 

Ten-man Aston Villa went down 3-0 to Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Harrison Reed gave the hosts the lead in the 36th minute when he slotted the ball into the net from the edge of the box.

Harrison Reed scored his first goal for Fulham in the first half, before Aleksandar Mitrović scored from the penalty spot and Neeskens Kebano passed the ball to Tyrone Mings for the third goal.

After Sunday’s draw at Bournemouth, Marco Silva made just one change on the wing, with Willian replacing Dan James. Mitrović retained his starting berth, while Issa Diop made his first consecutive debut for Fulham in his career after scoring at the weekend.

Fulham broke the lines early, specifically in the 3rd minute, with Bobby De Cordova-Reid allowing Willian to head past Antonee Robinson on the left, but a strong block from Villa kept the danger at bay. Moments later, Willian was able to fire home from 10 yards after Mitrović found him with an intricate move, but Emiliano Martinez saved effectively.

Fulham took the game to the Villans, buoyed by the lively Cottage crowd, and in the 11th minute had the chance they deserved. De Cordova-Reids’ ball from the right looked destined for Mitro, who put it across, but player failed to get a difficult header on target.

After a quarter of an hour, Fulham had several chances to take a deserved lead. First, a couple of long-range shots from Andreas – the second after a good Willian corner – were deflected wide, before Andreas’ corner found Mitro at the back and Tyrone Mings’ block on goal was all that kept the equalizer alive.

Andreas was clearly in the mood tonight and went close again a few minutes later. He won a free kick 30 yards from goal and midfield maestro headed towards goal, needing a hard hand from Martinez to get a touch on the ball.

Over the next 10 minutes, Steven Gerrard’s side got into the game and Bernd Leno saved a couple of attempts on goal.

In the 33rd minute, Willian, who had been lively throughout the match, again came close to opening the scoring. After Andreas broke clear, the Brazilian winger broke through and cut inside before aiming his shot at goal, but Martinez again made another save.

A few minutes later, Los Blancos finally found the final touch through a possibly unknown source. Andreas’ cross again created problems and forced Martinez to take a throw-in, but he could only anticipate the ball to Reed. He took just one touch, plucked up his courage like a time-honored striker and fired the ball into the bottom right corner from the edge of the box to score his first goal at Craven Cottage and give Fulham a 1-0 lead.

In the second half, Fulham troubled Villa and almost scored in the 54th minute: João Palhinha recovered the ball in midfield and played a counter to Willian, who passed to Mitro, but the striker was prevented from shooting at the last moment.

After just under an hour, the VAR comes into play with Mitro and Douglas Luiz. The referees didn’t see it at first, but replays showed that the Villa player had headbutted Serbian striker, so he saw red.

Six minutes later, Mitro was again at the center of the action when he converted a penalty for his team. After a perfect pass from De Cordova-Reid, Danny Ings shot on goal but Matty Cash’s arm blocked it. In perfect fashion, the striker showed no signs of nervousness as he undercut Martinez.

In the 80th minute, Ashley Young played a cross to Ollie Watkins, whose shot was blocked by the strong Fulham backline.

With 10 minutes to go, Fulham managed to score the third goal. Kebano outmuscled his opposite number with skill and vision and hit a cross into the box that was deflected by Mings.

There was still time for another bonus: Luke Harris made his Premier League debut and was substituted for Andreas.

In the end, Fulham returned to winning ways with a great performance and made an impressive start to the 2022/23 season. 

Leno, Ream, De Cordova-Reid, Robinson, Diop, Kebano (Wilson), Reed (Cairney), Palhinha, Pereira (Harris), Willian (James), Mitrovic (Carlos Vinícius)

Substitutes not used: Rodák, Adarabioyo, Mbabu, Duffy

Martínez, Mings, Bednarek (Cash), Konsa, Young, McGinn, Watkins, Bailey (Buendía), Luiz, Ramsey (Archer), Ings (Dendoncker)

Substitutes not used: Olsen, Sanson, Nakamba, Coutinho, Chambers

Scorers:

Bookings:

Sent Off:

Match Stats:

Possession

Fulham 61%
Aston Villa 39%

Total Shots

Fulham 18
Aston Villa 12

Shots on Target

Fulham 8
Aston Villa 6

Corners

Fulham 11
Aston Villa 11

Fouls

Fulham 7
Aston Villa 3

Attacks

Fulham 96
Aston Villa 87

Dangerous Attacks

Fulham 46
Aston Villa 31

Referee: Michael Oliver

Venue: Craven Cottage, London

Player of the Match: Bernd Lino (Fulham)