Aston Villa season ends in heartbreak and defeat in play-off final

Aston Villa came up short in their quest for Premier League promotion. Fulham’s Tom Cairney scored the match’s only goal in a cagey affair at Wembley Stadium.

Hats off to everyone involved at Aston Villa for another fun-filled year. It ended in the worst way possible – narrow defeat in the EFL Championship play-off final, but it provided areas of excitement spread across 26 victories in all competitions. But in the end, football, like life, is depressing.

Steve Bruce called on the expected starting XI with Ahmed Elmohamady recovering in time, after a hamstring strain forced him off in the semi-final first leg. Fulham’s Jokanovic, too, called on the expected starting XI, an unchanged side that hammered Derby County 2-0 at Craven Cottage.

The opening 15 minutes were a slog in which Villa possessed next-to-nothing of the ball. James Chester was booked in the 9th-minute for a late, late challenge on Aleksandar Mitrovic. Mitrovic’s efforts in the game went largely unnoticed, but he provided a huge relief outlet for Fulham when things didn’t go there way.

Then this happened:

Fulham right back Ryan Fredericks delivered a nasty and deliberate stamp on Jack Grealish. Referee Anthony Taylor not only didn’t send Fredericks off; he did’t even whistle a foul. Nothing short of disappointing from the Football League – whose quality of refereeing, in my eyes, was terrible this season.

A communication breakdown in defense delivered the only goal of the game. 18-year old Ryan Sessegnon cut inward causing Conor Hourihane to badly misjudge a tackle. The open Sessegnon found a surging Tom Cairney who slid in between Alan Hutton and John Terry (both ball-watching). Cairney’s finish barely evaded Sam Johnstone, but with enough pace, it was 1-0 Fulham.

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Villa came out with their foot on the accelerator after halftime. A couple of good, whipping crosses nearly resulted in decent chances, but the claret and blues fell slowly back into submission. That is, until Jack Grealish earned his eighth foul of the match, thereby giving Dennis Odoi his second yellow card in the 70th-minute.

It wasn’t to be. Tomas Kalas, Oliver Norwood, and Cyrus Christie came on for the Cottagers to see out the game. Villa came agonizingly close half-a-dozen times, but none of Scott Hogan, Jonathan Kodjia, or Josh Onomah could find the back of the net. For many this was their final game in the claret and blue kit.