Match Report
Aston Villa (1) 3-1 (1) Fulham
Premiership Match Day 06 25/26 at Villa Park
Sunday 28th September 2025 KO: 14:00
Referee:
Andy Madley (West Yorkshire)
Live on SkySports
|
Geoff Pruce
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Fulham were beaten 3-1 away to Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.
A lightning fast start saw us take the lead through an excellent Raúl Jiménez header, but the striker soon had to be taken off after picking up a knock, leaving us without a striker on the pitch for more than 80 minutes.
The Whites dominated the first half, and on another day Josh King might have won one or two penalties, but we went in level courtesy of an Ollie Watkins goal.
Two quickfire strikes at the beginning of the second half from John McGinn and Emiliano Buendia then proved too big an obstacle to fight back from, as Fulham were beaten for just the second time this season.
Marco Silva was forced into two changes to the side that started our Premier League victory against Brentford eight days prior, with muscle and knee injuries ruling out Rodrigo Muniz and Kenny Tete, respectively – Raul and Timothy Castagne the men to come in.
Raul needed fewer than three minutes to show his class, flicking Saša Lukic’s corner over his shoulder and inside the far post, after some positive play down the left from King and Ryan Sessegnon to win the set-piece in the first instance.
Unfortunately, Raul’s afternoon did not last much longer after picking up an injury of his own. With no natural striker on the bench, Adama Traoré was brought on to lead the line.
King had been getting some early joy down the left and a drop of the shoulder in the 12th minute saw him breeze beyond Lamare Bogarde. Full of confidence, he jinked into the box before poking a shot on target that Emiliano Martinez saved at the second attempt.
The first Villa attempt came from Harvey Elliott who connected cleanly with a deep corner to send his volley on target, only to see fellow Fulham Academy graduate Sessegnon well positioned to divert it behind.
The home side should definitely have equalised a minute later when McGinn nipped in to pinch a Calvin Bassey pass off Sander Berge’s toes, but the Villa captain blazed his shot miles off target when well placed.
| Match Stats |
Aston Villa |
Fulham |
| Goals |
(2) 3 |
1 (1) |
|
| Scorers |
Watkins 37 |
Jiménez 3 |
| |
McGinn 49 |
- |
| |
Buendía 51 |
- |
| , |
| Goal attempts |
9 |
11 |
| On target |
4 |
4 |
| Shooting Accuracy |
44% |
36% |
| Possession |
48% |
52% |
| Passes |
403 |
414 |
| Passes Success |
84% |
86% |
| Crosses |
10 |
30 |
| Crosses Success |
10% |
23% |
| Corners |
2 |
8 |
| Tackles |
4 |
7 |
| Tackles Success |
40% |
44% |
| Saves |
3 |
1 |
| Fouls |
10 |
13/td>
|
| Offsides |
2 |
4 |
| Yellows |
1 |
4 |
| Reds |
0 |
0 |
| source: SkySports |
One of Adama’s first contributions was to put King through on goal. The young midfielder beat Martinez to the ball and popped it past him before colliding with the Villa goalkeeper. There seemed to be at least a case for a penalty as there was little King could do about the contact, and so for the second game running the yellow card he was issued for simulation seemed incredibly harsh.
Undeterred, another driving King run then presented the next chance, this time his driven strike diverting behind for a corner off the hand of Matty Cash that was miles from his body.
Villa hauled themselves level with a proper old school route one goal – Lucas Digne launching a long ball over the top to Watkins who had managed to get in between Joachim Andersen and Bassey before lobbing the ball expertly over Bernd Leno.
The Fulham response then saw Adama turn provider for King once more, bending in a cross that King nodded into the arms of Martinez.
We were ending the half strong, with Lukic breaking the lines in stoppage time to get on the end of Alex Iwobi’s clip over the top. He held it up before playing Wilson, who bent an effort just over with the outside of his boot.
Though not quite as fast as Fulham’s start in the first half, Villa began quickly after the restart, taking the lead within four minutes when McGinn lashed in from the edge of the box after Adama was tackled in a dangerous area.
Buendia had been brought on at the break, and he made it 3-1 a minute later when a quick counter ended with him lashing home after Morgan Rogers’ miscue dropped kindly into his path.
The Whites thought they’d reduced the deficit when King robbed Martinez of the ball in the box. Adama pulled it back to Lukic but his low effort was brilliantly turned away from the line by Ezri Konsa.
The two goals had understandably taken some wind out of our sails, but the boys kept probing for a way back into the contest, with Villa substitute Boubacar Kamara fortunate to see his diversion of a Sessegnon cross fall into the grateful grasp of Martinez.
Sess was then picked out but was unable to get a shot away in the box, before Samuel Chukwueze – on for Wilson – sent a difficult first time effort off target following a long throw.
As the clock ticked over the 90 mark, Chukwueze skipped past his man on the edge of the area to work a shooting chance, but arrowed his effort over.
That proved to be the last action of note on an afternoon that had started so promisingly.
Fulham boss Marco Silva speaking to Sky Sports:
"I will not make any comment. Everybody is going to talk. King was in a good position to punish them. I was watching the moments now, for me, they are incredible. I respect and they can try to explain everything they need to explain but we cannot understand.
"Very difficult, being Fulham manager or not, that the tackle from Martinez is not a penalty. If a player is tackled inside the box, it is a penalty everywhere in the world.
"Six games in Premier League, we don't need anyone to educate Josh King. He is a good professional. Josh King already has two yellow cards and they disallowed one clear goal for him."
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings (Torres 32), Digne, McGinn (Kamara 72), Bogarde (Lindelof 82), Guessand (Malen 83), Elliott (Buendia 45), Rogers, Watkins
Unused substitutes: Sancho, Maatsen, Bizot, Burrowes
Goals:
Watkins 38 (ASTON VILLA HAVE THEIR EQUALISER - WATKINS IS OFF THE MARK!
Digne clips a perfect ball over the top of the defence, bouncing over Bassey and Andersen, before Watkins then lifts his shot over the head of Leno to level the scoreline!
Both he and Villa needed that goal desperately.
VAR checked for an offside but Watkins timed the run perfectly. Goal stands and Villa are level!)
McGinn 50 (CAPTAIN MCGINN STEPS UP WHEN VILLA NEED HIM MOST - AGAIN!
Villa force the turnover of possession from Adama before it breaks to Buendia, who finds McGinn to his left.
Space then opens up for the Villa captain and he wastes no time in firing his effort into the bottom left corner from long range!)
Buendia 52 (WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS AT VILLA PARK!
Goal drought, what goal drought? Villa flood forward down the left and it's Watkins who pulls the ball back to Rogers in the area.
His effort rebounds into the path of Buendia behind him and the half-time substitute simply pokes it into the back of the net to add a third for Villa.
Emery's side have scored the same amount of goals in two minutes as they did across the first six games of the season. )
Yellow Card: McGinn (f,45)
Fulham: Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Sessegnon (Robinson 80), Lukic, Berge, Wilson (Chukwueze 80), King (Smith Rowe 65), Iwobi (Kevin 65), Jimenez (Traore 11)
Unused substitutes: Reed, Cairney, Cuenca, Lecomte
Goals:
Jimenez 03 (NIGHTMARE START FOR VILLA BUT IT'S PERFECT FOR FULHAM!
Lukic swings the early corner in and it's Jimenez who darts across Konsa penalty area to glance his header into the far corner!
VAR CHECK! Berge and McGinn were grappling in the penalty area and the Villa captain went down just ahead of Martinez in the box.
GOAL STANDS!)
Yellow Card: King (sim,22), Lukic (f,34), Wilson (dis,45), Bassey (f,55)
Referee:
Andy Madley (West Yorkshire)
Attendance: 40,350
Fulham are next in action at 20.00 next Friday, 3rd October, when they travel to Bournemouth. The match will be live on Sky Sports.