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Aston Villa vs. Fulham Football Club: Player Grades

By Josh Tonti

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 11: Lewis Grabban of Aston Villa looks on during the Sky Bet Championship match between Aston Villa and Birmingham City at Villa Park on February 11, 2018 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 11: Lewis Grabban of Aston Villa looks on during the Sky Bet Championship match between Aston Villa and Birmingham City at Villa Park on February 11, 2018 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images) /
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Aston Villa’s seven-match league winning streak came screeching to a halt. The club faltered at Craven Cottage, losing 2-0 to Fulham.

All good things must come to an end.

For an Aston Villa team, lacking their two best attacking players away from home, it occurred Saturday. Fulham’s brace in the second-half, courtesy of Ryan Sessegnon and Floyd Ayite, gave the Londoners all three points.

Fulham dominated possession to the tune of 63%.

For the time being, Villa drop into third-place in league standings – just two points behind Cardiff City, who defeated ‘Boro 1-0. Without further ado, our match grades:

SAM JOHNSTONE. 3.5. Yikes. Sam Johnstone will not want to watch replays of Fulham’s second goal. The only real complaint with Johnstone continues to be his poor distribution – something I note almost every week in my player ratings. Made a slid double save in the second-half. 37% passing accuracy through 80 minutes.. GK. Aston Villa

Aston Villa’s best player on Saturday. Showed glimpses of pace and strength that allowed the Manchester United loanee to compete with Ryan Sessegnon. Tuanzebe was the most involved Villan by almost 20 touches, but he cratered a bit in the second-half.. RB. Aston Villa. AXEL TUANZEBE. 6.5

A quiet afternoon from James Chester, but he struggled to dominate the skies, winning just two aerial challenge. He and Terry lost track of Sessegnon’s opener.. RCB. Aston Villa. JAMES CHESTER. 5.0

Good in possession, but he took two odd forays into the attack that caused Fulham counters.. LCB. Aston Villa. JOHN TERRY. 5.0

Just not good after Ryan Fredericks created the opening goal on Hutton’s flank. Completed under 60% of his passes.. LB. Aston Villa. ALAN HUTTON. 4.0

6.5. Might have been Villa’s best player on Saturday, but Mile Jedinak was withdrawn for a second forward in the 66th-minute. It was the correct call at the time, but Lewis Grabban did nothing of note to spark some offense.. CDM. . MILE JEDINAK

CM. Aston Villa. BIRKIR BJARNASON. 5.5. Completed three key passes per WhoScored, but had maybe the same number of key passes to Fulham players. Too many turnovers.

Aston Villa. CONOR HOURIHANE. 5.0. Copy and paste from Bjarnason pretty much. Hourihane’s work rate was excellent as he seemed to press Fulham’s backline more than Scott Hogan.. CM

Aston Villa. AHMED ELMOHAMADY. 6.0. Elmo had a surprise run out on the wing for Villa. Was very good before he had to be withdrawn for Josh Onomah at halftime. Hopefully, he is not too injured. Snodgrass played the second-half at right midfield.. RW

5.0. Snodgrass clearly was not comfortable on the left, so he made the switch after Elmohamady had to be withdrawn. It did not help and he was replaced by Keinan Davis with minutes to spare.. LW. Aston Villa. ROBERT SNODGRASS

SCOTT HOGAN. 4.5. Hogan tried to find space between Fulham’s Tim Ream and Tomas Kalas for much of the match. In the early parts, he was more involved with a few effective hold-up moves. Disappeared for the remainder of the first half. I saw nothing in the second-half, either, save for the team’s best chance around the 80th-minute mark. Finished with 18 touches. Bleh.. CF. Aston Villa

All data provided by WhoScored match center. Villa have a quick turnaround with a match against Preston North End on Tuesday, before Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday. The club could really do with Albert Adomah and Jack Grealish back from injury.

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