Aston Villa came from a goal down to beat Fulham 3-1 at Villa Park, picking up their first Premier League victory of the season. Goalscoring had been a problem for Villa this term, with just one league goal to their name before the game, but that issue was emphatically resolved on Sunday.
Villa kicked off their season with a Europa League win over Bologna in midweek and backed it up with their first domestic triumph, capping off a successful few days for Unai Emery.
Fulham had looked on course for a fourth straight victory in all competitions when Raul Jimenez nodded in an early header. However, the hosts showed great character to level the score as Ollie Watkins ended his goal drought with his first of the season.
The spirited Villa side then put Fulham to the sword with two quickfire goals after the interval. John McGinn, who was the matchwinner on Thursday, stood up once again to put his side in front before Emi Buendia’s strike made the points safe.
The win lifted Emery’s side out of the bottom three, and they will be hoping it marks a turning point in their season.
—
The hosts got off to the worst possible start when Fulham scored within three minutes. Fulham won an early corner, and Sasa Lukic whipped the ball onto Raul Jimenez’s head, who glanced it inside the near post to silence an already nervous Villa Park.
Villa responded promptly. Harvey Elliott, on his full league debut for the club, connected with a cross at the far post, but his effort was stabbed behind by Ryan Sessegnon.
Villa should have been level in the 18th minute after Calvin Bassey gifted possession to McGinn inside the area, but the Villa skipper was unable to finish.
However, Villa found the equaliser eight minutes before half-time. Watkins beat the offside trap by latching onto a long ball over the top from Lucas Digne before lifting his finish over the onrushing Bernd Leno and into the net.
At the other end, Emiliano Martinez was forced into a save to stop Fulham from retaking the lead, keeping out a header from the lively Josh King.
—
Villa Park erupted as the hosts turned the game on its head with two goals in 104 seconds after the restart. First, Adama Traore was caught in possession, allowing McGinn to pick up the ball and arrow a pinpoint strike into the bottom left-hand corner.
The fans had barely finished celebrating before Watkins turned provider, setting up Buendia to poke home.
In a chaotic few minutes, Fulham almost reduced the deficit to one goal a minute later. Martinez made a mistake that allowed the ball to be fed to Lukic, but the keeper was rescued by a heroic goal-line clearance from Ezri Konsa as Villa finally got their campaign up and running.
https://www.breakingnews.ie/sport/aston-villa-hit-back-to-beat-fulham-and-end-wait-for-first-premier-league-win-1812260.html