Aston Villa picked up their first Premier League victory of the season with a spirited 3-1 comeback win over Fulham at Villa Park, extending their head-to-head dominance over the Cottagers to six straight league wins, Softfootball reports
For Unai Emery’s men, it was the perfect response after a slow domestic start, especially coming on the back of a midweek European triumph over Bologna.Things couldn’t have started worse for the hosts though. Barely three minutes in, Raúl Jiménez darted to the near post and glanced Saša Lukić’s corner past Emiliano Martínez with a clever header.
The Mexican injured himself in the process, however, and was forced off immediately ,a cruel blow after his bright start. Fulham pushed forward with momentum as Josh King tested Martínez with a driving run, while John McGinn squandered a golden chance at the other end when he fired wide after pouncing on a defensive error from Calvin Bassey.
Fulham thought they might have had a penalty when King’s shot struck Matty Cash’s arm, but appeals were waved away, and that decision proved pivotal. Villa, who had been second-best for much of the half, finally found their rhythm when Ollie Watkins latched onto Lucas Digne’s lofted pass and lobbed Bernd Leno with confidence to end his seven-game Premier League goal drought. The equaliser lifted the home crowd and gave Emery’s side a foothold just before half-time.
Villa carried that momentum into the second half and turned the game on its head within minutes. McGinn, making up for his earlier miss, drilled in a beautiful left-footed strike into the bottom corner to give his side the lead. Fulham looked stunned, and within 120 seconds the contest was almost as good as over as Watkins turned provider, squaring for Emiliano Buendía to tap in from close range.
The visitors almost grabbed a lifeline late on when Martínez spilled an easy catch into Lukić’s path, but Ezri Konsa produced a superb goalline clearance to preserve Villa’s two-goal lead. From there, Emery’s men managed the game with calmness and maturity , closing out a much-needed win.
After the game, Villa’s official X handle, shared the post match reactions of the manager Unai Emery who praised his side’s resilience after a shaky start, see video below;
The win not only got them their first 3 points of the season but also marked their longest league winning streak against a single opponent since beating Birmingham City six times on a row.
As for Marco Silva, it was another frustrating afternoon against Villa, his seventh defeat in eight league meetings against the Midlands club,as Fulham’s shaky start to the season continued with just two wins in the first six league games with one of their win coming against Leeds where new signing Kevin was the difference on the night .
