Fulham 1-3 Aston Villa

Aston Villa got the better of Fulham in an action-packed Premier League clash at Craven Cottage to stretch their unbeaten run to nine matches.

The visitors fell behind with only five minutes on the clock when Raul Jiménez netted, but they replied soon after via Morgan Rogers’ deflected strike.

Emi Martínez made a fantastic save to keep out Andreas Pereira’s penalty later in the first half before Villa kicked on after the break.

Ollie Watkins turned a header home off the underside of the bar on the hour mark to give his side the lead, and the England international was hauled down soon after, resulting in a straight red for Joachim Andersen.

Lucas Digne’s cross was diverted past Bernd Leno by Issa Diop to complete a frantic ten-minute spell, securing a fifth win from eight league matches for Unai Emery’s team who have made the club’s best start to a Premier League season for 26 years.

The only negative for Villa arrived in stoppage time when Jaden Philogene was given his marching orders after picking up a second yellow card.

Amadou Onana and Jacob Ramsey returned to the starting XI after missing Villa’s previous outing before the international break, with Diego Carlos also coming into the side.

The visitors were looking to maintain a fine recent record against Fulham after winning five of the last six meetings, but they suffered an early setback in west London.

Jiménez got to a long ball from Leno ahead of Pau Torres, brushing the Spaniard off before stroking a shot past Martínez.

A response was swift from the away side, who were behind for just four minutes. The ball was worked towards Fulham’s box and to the feet of Rogers, with the attacking midfielder’s shot ricocheting off Calvin Bassey and spinning past Leno.

Jiménez headed inches wide and Watkins saw a close-range effort smothered by Leno as the game zipped from end-to-end before taking a turn in Fulham’s favour once again after 27 minutes.

Referee Darren England awarded the hosts a penalty after being called to the screen to rule on a Matty Cash handball, with Pereira stepping up to take the spot kick.

A stuttering run up failed to fool Martínez, who guessed correctly and got down to his left to collect the ball before kissing the badge on his shirt in front of the away support.

Villa enjoyed their most dominant passage of the game after the missed penalty, cranking up the pressure with a steady stream of corners and enjoying success down the left-hand side.

One such venture saw Ramsey fashion a gilt-edged chance for Rogers only for the No27 to slice his effort wide as the sides headed in level at the break.

Villa started the second half as they finished the first, controlling the ball and probing for openings in the home defence.

The away side came close to taking the lead on 55 minutes when the ball was worked into Watkins in the box, with Andersen poking the ball goalwards and calling Leno into a smart one-handed save.

The visiting fans were celebrating five minutes later as their side hit the front thanks to a superb header from Watkins, who glanced Youri Tielemans’ corner off the underside of the crossbar.

Bassey and Andersen were having a torrid time trying to contain the England international, and when Watkins ran in behind the latter dragged him down and received a straight red card.

A superb ten-minute spell for the visitors was complete on 69 minutes when Digne’s cross was turned past his own ‘keeper by Diop.

Philogene and Ramsey sent efforts over before the former was shown a second yellow card in stoppage time.

It didn’t dampen the joy for the club’s travelling support, who serenaded their side at the full-time whistle.