U18s: Fulham 4-0 Aston Villa

Aston Villa suffered a 4-0 defeat to Fulham in the Under-18 Premier League South on Saturday.

The Young Lions fell behind to Josh King’s strike before conceding twice late in the first half to go in 3-0 down at half-time, goalkeeper James Wright with an own goal and Terrell Works finding the net in injury time.

Lemar Gordon added a fourth early in the second half as Villa’s three-match unbeaten run came to an end at Motspur Park, with Norwich City up next on Saturday.

Finley Munroe forced a solid save from Fulham goalkeeper Alfie McNally early on, before Villa stopper Wright saved well from Aaron Loupalo-Bi at the other end.

But it was the hosts who opened the scoring in the 18^th minute when King swept home inside the penalty area.

Wright tipped over from King and safely collected Harvey Araujo’s free-kick as Fulham threatened a second, Gordon firing wide when well placed.

Yet the Cottagers doubled their advantage two minutes before the break when Wright mis-cued a pass out from the back and put into his own net.

And the home side quickly made it 3-0 as Works drilled a low strike into the net in added time.

Wright made a smart stop to deny Brad de Jesus at the start of the second half, but Gordon added a fourth off the inside of the far post in the 55^th minute.

Jayden Barber forced McNally into action before Wright saved well from substitute Ma’kel Bogle-Campbell and Caelan Avenall as Fulham ran out comfortable winners.