Aston Villa 1-0 Fulham

Aston Villa got back to winning ways in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, extending their unbeaten Villa Park run to 20 matches with a narrow victory against Fulham.

Youri Tielemans provided the decisive moment after 12 minutes, heading home John McGinn’s corner in front of the North Stand.

The home side missed a succession of chances to add to their lead, with Bernd Leno making standout saves from Tielemans and Ollie Watkins before Donyell Malen crashed an effort against the crossbar.

The Cottagers rarely threatened to find a leveller as Villa produced a strong defensive performance to close out the win.

Three points in B6 moves the club level on points with fifth-place Chelsea heading into the final three games of the season.

Captain McGinn made his 200^th top-flight appearance for the club, becoming only the tenth player to do so for Villa, while manager Unai Emery brought Ian Maatsen into the starting XI in the only change from the team’s last outing.

And the skipper picked up an assist to mark his milestone when he sent in an inswinging corner that was headed home by Tielemans, despite the best attempts of a despairing Leno.

Outside of the goal, there was little to report in the opening 30 minutes as both sides battled for supremacy in midfield, with chances at a premium.

Some supreme skill from Morgan Rogers looked set to unpick the Fulham defence, but his cross was cut out by Leno ahead of the waiting Watkins after the winger had left two defenders in his wake.

Raúl Jiménez curled a tame effort wide for the visitors before Villa came within a fingertip save of taking a two-goal lead into the break when Tielemans’ powerful strike brought the best out of Leno.

Fulham finally tested Emi Martínez with the last action of the half, Alex Iwobi sending a drive straight at the Argentine.

Thirty-three seconds had elapsed in the second half when Watkins saw a glorious chance to score come and go, the ball slipping under his foot as he attempted to turn Matty Cash’s cross past the goalkeeper.

Ryan Sessegnon had the ball in the back of the net shortly after, but saw his strike immediately ruled out after handling as he controlled it on the edge of the box.

In contrast to the first 45 minutes, chances were coming thick and fast, and Harry Wilson tried and failed to lob Martínez after being played in by Iwobi.

Villa should have gone 2-0 up on 61 minutes but Leno stood firm to deny Watkins 1v1 after Rogers had played him in with a superb through ball.

Pau Torres couldn’t adjust his feet quick enough to convert a Jacob Ramsey cross as opportunities to extend the lead kept passing the hosts by.

Substitute Malen prodded wide at the near post and shot high into the Holte End as it continued to be one-way traffic.

To the displeasure of the home crowd, eight minutes of stoppage time were added, but it didn't encourage ten-man Fulham, who'd lost sub Harrison Reed to injury, to push forward.

Instead, Malen came within inches of killing the match off when he thundered a shot against the underside of the crossbar. 

Villa's 17th Premier League game unbeaten at home was confirmed, matching the club record run they achieved under Emery between March and December 2023.