Match Report
Aston Villa (1) 1-1 (0) Fulham
Premier League Match Day 09 26_27 at Villa Park
Saturday 31st October 2026, KO: 20:00
Referee:
Samuel Barrott (West Riding)
Live on SkySports
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A strong Fulham performance saw us take a valuable point away from Villa Park on Saturday night.
After John McGinn missed a penalty, Nicolas Jackson fired Aston Villa in front in the first half, but the Whites were a different beast after the break, pinning our opponents back time after time.
The equaliser was an unusual one, as home goalkeeper Zion Suzuki – who had otherwise been excellent – dropped Alex Iwobi’s corner over the line, but it was a stroke of luck that our performance had merited.
Álvaro Arbeloa made one change to the side that defeated Coventry City a week earlier, with the now fully recovered Sander Berge restored at the expense of Hugo Larsson.
Fulham began positively and carved open a decent chance inside five minutes when Oscar Bobb won possession and played Gonzalo García. He picked out Iwobi with his centre, but it bobbled before it reached our no.17, causing him to blaze the first time strike over the bar.
Villa threatened with a couple of Leon Goretzka headers, the second of which led to a penalty kick via a VAR review, as it took a slight nick off a raised Berge arm. Thankfully, McGinn blasted his effort against the crossbar.
Goretzka was looking lively on his first Premier League start, and he had Bernd Leno wrongfooted when his shot from the edge of the box was deflected, but it dropped a yard over.
A blistering counter attack spearheaded by Antonee Robinson ended with him finding the run of Bobb who got his shot on target, only to be denied by an unbelievable reaction stop from Suzuki.
The Whites had grown back into the game, and as half-time approached Gonzalo showed no lack of confidence when he took a snapshot on from a tight angle, narrowly dragging wide of the near post.
But in Jackson, Villa have one of the league’s in-form players, and he carried on his purple patch when the ball ricocheted kindly for him in the box, allowing him to calmly roll an effort under Bernd Leno.
We responded well and it looked as though a good chance was falling Josh King’s way when he got on the end of Gonzalo’s reverse park, but Suzuki was out rapidly to get a big hand on the ball.
If Fulham had a shade more luck, we would have been level inside three minutes of the restart when Suzuki parried Robinson’s dangerous cross into Gonzalo and back towards goal, but it dropped the wrong side of the upright.
The Villans went straight up the other end to test Leno with a venomous Jackson strike, which the German was more than equal to.
On 54 minutes, an Iwobi corner was well met by Timothy Castagne at the near post. He flicked onto Shea Charles, whose attempted diversion towards goal took a nick off Gonzalo and agonisingly cleared the crossbar.
As we ticked beyond the hour mark, a marvellous Bobb run saw him make space for a shot which was blocked, with the loose ball dropping to Charles who bent over on his left foot.
Fulham had been utterly dominant in the second half, but did require a stunning Leno save to keep the score at 1-0, with our number one showing remarkable reactions to keep the ball out of his net after Ian Maatsen’s shot had taken a wicked deflection.
When fortune deserted us again as Iwobi’s header was repelled by Suzuki and Gonzalo’s follow-up was deflected over, the away fans would have been forgiven for thinking the ball would never go in for us at Villa Park, but that all changed at the subsequent corner.
Iwobi’s delivery was on the money, bending it under Suzuki’s crossbar, and the Japan international inadvertently dropped his catch over the line.
Not settling for a point, Fulham continued to take the game by the scruff of its neck, and more positive running from Bobb led to a good chance for Iwobi, who saw his placed effort deflect over.
Villa had not threatened too much in the second 45, but there was a hairy moment when Pau Torres rose highest to connect with a Ross Barkley delivery, only to glance wide of the far post.
The centre-back went much closer in the 90th minute when he was picked out by Emi Buendia’s free-kick, this time nodding off target by a matter of inches.
It would have been a travesty if the home side had snatched it after such a good display by Fulham, who claimed a positive result at Villa Park for the first time in more than 12 years.
Aston Villa: Suzuki; Cash, Lindelof, Torres, Maatsen; Kamara (Barkley 79), Goretzka (Mbaye 66); Alysson (Buendía 66), Manzambi (Gomes 66), McGinn (Garnacho 87); Jackson
Unused substitutes: Bizot, Harwood-Bellis, Mings, Madjo
Goals:
ackson 39 (JACKSON WITH THE OPENER! VILLA LEAD! Manzambi plays in Jackson down the left, who has Castagne and Affengruber in front of him. He battles his way through the pair of them, before finishing past Leno in goal. 1-0!)
Yellow Card: Cash (f,76),
Fulham: Leno; Castagne (Larsson 87), Affengruber, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Charles; Bobb (Tete 79), King (Palacios 79), Iwobi (Cairney 75); Garcia (Muniz 87)_
Unused substitutes: Kevin, Andersen, Lecomte, Ángel
Goals:
Suzuki og 64 (HUGE ERROR FROM SUZUKI! The Iwobi corner is straight on Suzuki on the goal line, but the goalkeeper tries to pat the ball down and in doing so sees the ball cross the goal line! Terrible from a goalkeeper that has been so fantastic all game! 1-1!)
Yellow Card: Affengruber (f,30), Bassey (f,45+4), Cairney (f,77)
Referee:
Samuel Barrott (West Riding)
Attendance: 34649
Fulham are next in action in the Premier League when they welcome Newcastle United to Craven Cottage on Saturday 7th November at 15:00.
Source Geoff Pruce at Fulham FC
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