Ollie Watkins' double guides Aston Villa into the top four with victory at Fulham | first division
Ollie Watkins' brace helped Aston Villa beat a spirited Fulham 2-1 at Craven Cottage. The forward took his first division his 12th on the season and made the difference for Unai Emery's men in west London.
Fulham's Rodrigo Muñiz scored his fourth in three games but Villa held on during the second half to take the three points. Villa fired an early warning shot when Watkins' goal was disallowed for offside. John McGinn managed to get past the attacker, but the linesman judged that he had moved too soon. Fulham avoided an early scare.
Muñiz started over the ailing Armando Broja up front and the Brazilian looked to continue his good form, getting on the end of a pass from Andreas Pereira before firing his shot over the bar. After Fulham had their own goal ruled out for offside on a set piece, Villa punished a series of errors and took the lead.
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The normally reliable Antonee Robinson had a moment to forget when her throw-in put Willian under immense pressure in defense before Watkins picked the ball out of the winger, prowling the area and drilling his shot past Bernd Leno into the corner left.
Fulham's sloppiness continued and Leon Bailey looked to inflict more misery on Robinson. The pacy Jamaican international turned left-back with intricate skill before his curling strike hit the crossbar, much to the relief of Marco Silva's men.
The visitors tightened the screw and doubled their lead thanks to the clinical Watkins. Villa's number 11 caught Issa Diop napping, finding space to get on the end of Youri Tielemans' pass before raising his head, pausing and curling his shot onto his favorite left post for a brace.
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But after 63 minutes, Fulham scored on half-time to open the match. Robinson redeemed a poor first half with a golden delivery from the left into the six-yard box, finding Muniz who pushed the ball past Emiliano Martínez to give the Cottagers hope. Silva returned to the bench with Alex Iwobi and Adama Traoré.
Iwobi, fresh from his Africa Cup of Nations campaign with Nigeria, forced Martínez into action with a cross shot before Traore beat Àlex Moreno and tested Villa's defense with a dangerous cross. Traoré went one on one for five added minutes but Martínez rejected him.
