U18s: Aston Villa 0-1 Fulham

Aston Villa suffered a slender defeat at the hands of Fulham in the Under-18 Premier League on Saturday.

Michael Olakigbe produced the game’s defining moment, drilling a shot past James Wright from a tight angle after 36 minutes.

Kadan Young and Kobei Moore went close for a spirited Villa at Bodymoor Heath.

Fresh from a 3-2 win against Norwich City in their last outing, Villa were quick out of the blocks and came close to going ahead when Young was thwarted from close range.

Wright came to Villa’s rescue shortly afterwards, getting down quickly to make a smart one-handed save.

Substitute Omari Kellyman, who came on after 30 minutes, headed a golden opportunity wide, and the miss proved to be costly as Fulham hit the front on 36 minutes.

A move that started with the visitors’ goalkeeper ended with Olakigbe, who picked the ball up on the right and drove forward before firing a fierce shot beyond Wright.

The Cottagers continued to be on the offensive at the start of the second half, calling Wright into another close-range stop.

Villa refused to cave in and carved out some promising chances of their own.

First, a shot was cleared off the line by a covering Fulham defender before Moore pounced on a loose pass and saw his effort saved by Michael Allen.

It proved to be as close as the hosts would come to salvaging something from the game as Villa moved down to 12^th in the table.