Fulham 3-1 Aston Villa: Cottagers put 10 man Villa to the sword

An early red card for Jonathan Kodjia sabotaged Villa’s efforts to avenge their home defeat to Reading. The boys from B6 slipped to a 3-1 loss at Craven Cottage.

The first 10 minutes saw both teams probing each other’s defenses and it looked like a closely fought game was inevitable. Fulham soon started to focus their efforts down the wings, and such a move exposed Villa’s frailties at the back.

Firstly, Scott Malone broke down the Fulham left and delivered a fine ball into the heart of the Villa box.

Ryan Fredericks then tried his luck down the right and raced past a flat footed Jordan Amavi, only to see his dangerous ball put behind for a corner.

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Fulham didn’t let up and almost took the lead when Sone Aluko was sent through. A strong left hand from Sam Johnstone palmed his effort wide.

However, on the next attack the Cottagers deservedly took the lead. Fredericks, after finding himself in more space down the Villa left, dinked the ball into the back post to sixteen year old Ryan Sessegnon. His initial volley rebounded off the Villa upright, but the ball fell kindly and he slotted home.

This goal rocked the away team and Fulham took full ascendancy in the tie, with Malone and Fredericks continuing to cause problems down the Villa flanks.

Things got even worse on 23 minutes when Jonathan Kodjia saw red for a cynical kick on Fredericks. It was arguably a harsh decision as the Fulham player also seemed to kick out when falling over, but the intent was there from Kodjia.

With a man advantage, Fulham continued to dominate and Villa’s play became untidy.

Just before the half-time whistle, Fulham should have extended their lead when Tim Ream had possession on the edge of the six yard area. His shot flew just wide.

Upon the game’s resumption, Villa came out looking much more reorganized and were shortly back on level terms. Scott Hogan worked the ball out to Jack Grealish on the left, who cut inside onto his right foot before unleashing a venomous curling effort which sailed past Marcus Bettinelli.

There were jubilant scenes in the away end and Grealish demonstrated just what an effective player he can be. With Kodjia suspended, will Grealish feature to end the season?

Such celebrations were short lived though as Villa were behind again just minutes later. Ayite got the better of James Bree on the wing and steamed into the penalty area, crossing the ball into the path of Aluko who acrobatically scored with the help of a deflection.

This setback proved one too many for the claret and blues.

Cottagers substitute Kebano received the ball in acres of space after a well-crafted pass from Stephan Johansen, and he made no mistake when blasting the ball towards goal.

Next: Ranking The Five Best Villa U-20 Stars

The game was killed off and consigned Villa to their second 3-1 defeat in less than 48 hours. Steve Bruce has much to mull over before the Second City derby next Sunday.

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