Aston Villa beat Fulham 3-1 at Villa Park on Sunday, as Unai Emery’s side secured their first win of the Premier League season.
Everyone at Villa breathed a huge sigh of relief as they looked like themselves for large parts of this game, especially in the second half.
WATCH — Full match replay
Raul Jimenez did put Fulham ahead early but he was then forced off through injury. Fulham then felt hard done by as they believed they should have had at least one penalty kick before Ollie Watkins opened his account for the season before half time to make it 1-1.
John McGinn and Emiliano Buendia then both scored at the start of the second half, just 104 seconds apart, to stun Fulham and they never really recovered.
Villa’s first win of the season moves them on to six points, while Fulham remain on eight points.
Villa regain their identity
Seeing Watkins and McGinn scoring at Villa Park and Emery punching the air in delight just feels right. Villa have endured a slow start to the season, transfer guru Monchi has left after a strange summer of deals and Emery has criticized some players and said his team have lost their identity. Their identity was back against Fulham on Sunday. Direct balls over the top, high-pressing and crosses finished off by midfielders crashing into the box is what Emery is all about and Villa had their energy and intensity back. The quality is clearly there but after just missing out on qualification for the Champions League last season, it seemed like Villa’s players were feeling sorry for themselves. Emery won’t allow that and his harsh recent words seem to have snapped them out of their funk. If Villa can sharpen up at the back, and injuries are kind to them (they lost Mings on Sunday) they can win the Europa League and push for Champions League qualification once again. It was good to see Villa back to being themselves.
What’s next?
Villa head to Feyenoord in the Europa League on Thursday, then host Burnley next Sunday. Fulham head to Bournemouth on Friday.
Aston Villa vs Fulham score: 3-1
Watkins 37’, McGinn 49', Buendia 51'; Jimenez 3’
Aston Villa vs Fulham live updates! — By Joe Prince-Wright
Fulham should make it 3-2!
Martinez gives the ball away in his own box and Lukic is played in and has the goal at his mercy, but his shot is cleared off the line by Konsa. Fulham almost straight back in it! What a start to the second half at Villa Park.
Villa have another! The sub Buendia finishes!
Two goals in less than two minutes and Villa are cruising! The sub Buendia smashes home after Ollie Watkins was played in and he picked out the Argentine. After all of his injury issues, this is Buendia’s first Premier League goal since March 2023. Villa Park is rocking.
McGinn smashes home a beauty as Villa lead!
Brilliant start to the second half from Villa and the skipper stands tall. John McGinn surges forward and drills home a beauty of a shot into the bottom corner at the Holte End. Villa’s fans go wild and so does McGinn. They haven’t been at their best this season but Watkins and McGinn, their two talisman, have turned this game around either side of half time. 2-1 to Villa!
Second half is underway, and Buendia is on for Elliott
Emiliano Buendia is on at half time for Villa with the Argentine playmaker on for Harvey Elliott, who struggled to get involved in the game. Not a great start to Elliott’s Villa career after Emery criticized him last week.
Rogers is almost in!
Another long ball over the top finds Morgan Rogers and he’s in on goal, but his first touch lets him down at the crucial moment. To be fair, that was a really tough ball to bring down out of the air. Villa have a clear plan to create chances.
Watkins equalizes!
Villa are level as a ball over the top is missed by Andersen and Watkins is there waiting for it and lobs home perfectly over Leno. So poor defensively from Fulham but that is textbook Watkins. Waited for his chance over the top and was clinical to score his first Premier League goal of the season.
King wants a penalty… but he’s booked for diving, then there’s a handball check for another penalty!
Lovely ball from Traore and King is in on goal and touches it around Martinez, then goes down. But he was looking for the contact and dragged his leg. King is booked for simulation instead of getting a penalty kick. He can’t believe it. Moments later he wants another penalty as his shot hits the outstretched arm of Cash from close range. That would have been a harsh handball. VAR has a look but nothing is given. Safe to say Marco Silva isn’t best pleased on the sidelines…
McGinn curls wide
John McGinn is clean through on goal and he tries to curl it into the far corner, but he gets it all wrong and curls way wide. That was a glorious chance for the Villa skipper.
King denied by Martinez
Fulham look so dangerous on the break and Josh King races past challenges but his low shot is saved by Emiliano Martinez.
Jimenez is down and has to come off
The Mexico star has been down getting treatment on what looks like a hip injury and he’s off. It looked like he injured himself when scoring the goal. Adama Traore has come on in his place.
Perfect start for Fulham as Jimenez heads home!
Wow. That was fast! Raul Jimenez puts Fulham ahead inside the first three minutes with a brilliant flicked header. What kind of reaction are we going to see from this fragile Villa side?
Aston Villa lineup
Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne; McGinn, Bogarde; Guessand, Elliott, Rogers; Watkins
Fulham lineup
Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Sessegnon; Lukic, Berge; Wilson, King, Iwobi; Jimenez
Aston Villa team news, focus
OUT: Youri Tielemans (lower leg), Amadou Onana (hamstring), Ross Barkley (personal) | QUESTIONABLE: Emiliano Martinez (unspecified)
Fulham team news, focus
QUESTIONABLE: Kevin (shoulder)
Aston Villa vs Fulham preview
Matty Cash got his side off the mark after 426 scoreless minutes to start the season, but Aston Villa (18th place - 3 points) couldn’t close the game out against 10-man Sunderland (since the 33rd minute) and settled for just a point instead. They managed to score again on Thursday, however, as they beat Bologna 1-0 in the Europa League. Summer signings Harvey Elliott, Jadon Sancho and Evann Guessand are yet to make an impact in the final third with 239 PL minutes between them thus far.
Fulham (8th - 8 points) will be full of confidence after back-to-back wins against Leeds and Brentford, not to mention their promising performance against Chelsea that turned to dust after VAR incorrectly ruled out a fantastic opening goal the game before. Marco Silva’s side overturned an early deficit to Brentford last weekend and smashed the Bees with three goals in 12 minutes. The Cottagers have already earned five points from losing positions this season (most in the PL).
Aston Villa vs Fulham prediction
There is simply no reason to back Villa at the moment, and Fulham will be ready to feast. Aston Villa 0-2 Fulham.
How to watch Aston Villa vs Fulham live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 9 am ET, Sunday
Venue: Villa Park — Birmingham
TV Channel: USA
Streaming: Watch live on NBC.com
