Disappointing Fulham crash to a 1-3 home defeat to Villa despite taking the lead
By Paul Lagan at Craven Cottage
Fulham 1v Aston Villa 3
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Fulham crashed to a 3-1 home defeat to high-flying Aston Villa this afternoon, despite taking the lead, then missing a penalty to retake the lead, and then ending the game with 10 men.
They capitulated in the second half to a clinical finishing Midlanders side, who took full advantage when Joachim Andersen was given the red card for fouling Ollie Watkins when a clear goalscoring opportunity was on the cards.
At that point it was 2-1 to the visitors. But three minutes later Issa Diop's first touch after coming on as a substitute was to slide the ball past his own goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
Fulham took an early lead through Raul Jimenez – a route one goal.
Villa levelled on nine minutes when a lucky deflection off Calvin Bassey saw Morgan Rodgers shot zip into the back of the net.
The game could have been oh so different had Andreas Pereira not produced a weak penalty shot that goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez easily saved.
Pereira had the first, albeit half chance of the game after three minutes when after good set-up play on the left between Alex Iwobi and Antonee Robinson, Alex Iwobi sent over a byline cross which in-running Pereira could only glance wide of the Villa goal.
But a goal, came and on five minutes, a long boot up by Fulham stopper saw Jimenez and Villa's Pau Torres battle it out for the ball, Jimenez won, bundled Torres away and from the edge of the area, and slipped a firm but decisive left footer past Martinez to put the west Londoners 1-0 up.
But on nine minutes and with a massive touch of luck, Villa equalised when Rodgers take a speculative shot, the ball zipped off Bassey's right leg, foxing Bernd Leno, and the ball zipped into the back of his net.
Jimenez was unlucky two minutes later when, from a corner he leapt above everyone else bit could not direct his header goal wards and it inched wide of Martinez's left post.
Rodgers almost doubled his tally, this time with a mazy run of his own, on 13 minutes but he scuffed a left-footer wide.
Villa started to dominate the ball and Leno was forced into a smart save to block Ollie Watkins on 17 minutes.
On 24 minutes, VAR intervened and asked referee Darren England to check for a possible penalty. He did and decided Matty Cash was the culprit.
Up stepped Pereira who produced one of the worse, weakest penalties ever seen, as Martinez could have gone on a two-week holiday and still had time to dive to his left and snatch the ball.
Villa missed a sitter three minutes from the break when Rodgers somehow conspired to side foot the ball away from goal when it was easier to tuck it home from eight yards out.
Jimenez, with the last touch of the half, a header, could only send the ball over the bar from a tight angle.
There were no changes by either side at half-time.
The first action of the restart saw Leno fingertip away a low, driven back pass by Anderson, under pressure from Ollie Watkins, on 54 minutes.
Leno was at it again, parrying away a left-footed angled shot by Jacob Ramsey on 59 minutes, as Villa started to reapply the pressure.
And they got their reward a minute later direct from a corner when Watkins, powered home a fierce header past Leno.
It all went even more sour for Fulham on 65 minutes when England gave a red card to Andersen who put his arm across Watkins as they both chased the ball heading towards the Fulham penalty area.
Watkins appeared to get the ball first, and he went to ground.
A clear goalscoring opportunity denied reckoned the man in black and Fulham were down to 10 men.
Fulham boss Marco Silva, overseeing his 150th game in charge of Fulham, brought on Diop and Reiss Nelson, off went Adama Traore and Pereira .
But number three was soon on its way, on 70 minutes, when an own goal by Diop, his first touch since coming on a minute earlier saw the ball ping past Leno.
Sander Berge and Emile Smith Rowe were replaced by Tom Cairney and Harry Wilson with 10 minutes left.
Parity in terms of men in the pitch was received deep into added time when already yellow-cared substitute Jaden Philogene got his second.
The game, by then was well over.
Teams: Fulham: Leno, Tete, Bassey, Andersen, Jimenez, Traore, Berge, Iwobi, Pereira, Smith Rowe, Robinson
Subs: Benda, Reed, Wilson, Muniz, Cairney, Nelson, King, Sessegnon, Diop
Villa: Martinez, Cash, Carlos, Tielemans, Watkins, Digne, Torres, Onana, Rogers, Bailey, Ramsey
Subs: Gauci, Konsa, Barkley, McGinn, Duran, Buendia, Philogene, Maatsen, Kamara
Referee: Darren England
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