Righto, our report is live:
Which means that’s it from me. Enjoy the next game, the rest of the weekend, and see you again soon. Peace and love.
The standard isn’t the highest – I strongly doubt whichever team wins the league will be remembered as one of the greats. But the standard of competition is very good indeed, with every team able to trouble every other team; there is just so much money in the Prem and so many good players in the world nowadays, that every team has a few.
The league table says:
We’ve got a blinder of a match kicking-off in 15 minutes. Join Rob Smyth to follow all the action from St James’.
It seems that at least for now, Emery prefers Mings to Torres, presumably because of the physical attributes which facilitate the high line. But with Torres on the pitch, Villa were much better, and though his presence wasn’t the only factor, his passing and composure on the ball were part of it. I’m not sure how severe Mings’ heel injury is, but I’d not be surprised to see Villa improve in his absence.
As a result of the win, Villa move up the table to 16th, dropping Burnley into the bottom three; Fulham fall to 10th.
FULL TIME: Aston Villa 3-1 Fulham
A colossal win for Villa, who score their first league home goal and record their first win; Fulham started well but faded, unable to respond to adversity after conceding.
90+5 min Chukwueze, moving across the face of the Villa back four, looks to slip a reverse-pass through and into the box, but Torres reads it well and intercepts.
90+4 min Robinson, who Fulham need back from the start, moves down the left and sees his cross deflected behind. Again, though, a dead ball is overhit, Kevin’s corner handing over a goalkick.
90+2 min Fulham win a free-kick deep inside the Villa half when Chukwueze steps across Kamara’s outstretched thigh; Lukic tumps his cross beyond the back post.
90+1 min Chris Sutton gives POTM to McGinn. I can’t argue with that, though I’d not be surprised if he decides to start arguing with himself.
90 min The game is expiring now, though Chukwueze has been lively since coming on, working a shooting lane before wasting over the bar. We’ll have six additional minutes.
88 min Thinking about player of the match, it is – in mine – between McGinn and Watkins. I’m going with the latter because his equaliser changed things and his runs in behind have been perhaps the key feature of Villa’s comeback.
86 min They cannot, Kevin crossing, picking up as clearance, and crossing again, this time past the back post and over the by-line.
86 min Coming up for you:
Meantime, Chukwueze wins a corner down the left. Can Fulham make something happen?
84 min Fulham might want to move Berge further forward – his ability to run with the ball could be useful in opening Villa up. But in the meantime, Cash heads a hopeful cross away, and there’s no sense that a comeback is imminent.
82 min Two more changes for Villa, Lindelof and Malen replacing Bogarde and Guesssand.
82 min Another ball into the box, a knockdown, and Chukwueze hooks from behind his arse and over.
80 min Martinez claims a poor corner then spends a while lying on the ball, while Fulham send on Robinson and Chukwueze, making his debut, for Sessegnon and Wilson.
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78 min “I’d been fairly certain Villa were moving beyond McGinn in technical skill and etc. last season,” returns Benjamin Gravestock, “but it’s extremely hard to argue he isn’t the driving force in this side, and certainly he’s been the one holding them vaguely together in this poor patch so far this season.”
Yup, there are certain players whose contribution exceeds the measurable, and he is one. He also offers versatility – he plays various midfield positions – and two-footed set-piece delivery. I watched a bit of Villa the season they were promoted, and though Jack Grealish got most of the credit, I though that he wad their best player then too.
77 min Fulham are dominating the ball now, as Villa sit in shape, both sides well aware that a goal here sets up a nervous finish.
76 min Laugh! On the run, Buendia shoulder-charges Bassey, who barely notices as Buendia collapses. He’s have better luck playing keepy-uppy with Mount Olympus.
74 min Better from Fulha, breaking down the left with Sessegnon who, after combining with Kevin, crosses low, Smith Rowe arriving into the box ready to sweep home … but a crucial touch from Kamara takes the ball away from him.
72 min Change for Villa: Boubacar Kamara replaces the heroic John McGinn. He’s the kind of player Alex Ferguson would have loved, I think, and is already a Villa legend.
70 min I’m a little surprised Fulham have defended so high today – that’s exactly what Villa, and Watkins in particular, want them to do, and it’s how two of the three goals have come.
68 min Villa have a trip to Feyenood in midweek, then a home match with Burnley – after which their league games get harder with Spurs away, Man City home, Liverpool away, Bournemouth home imminent. They’ll need points out of those, else they’ll find themselves a quarter of the way through the season and in trouble.
66 min King wasn’t in the game after the break, but he played really well prior to it. He’s excellent at finding the ball and, when he’s on it, his imagination and decision-making are pretty handy.
65 min A double-change for Fulham, Smith-Rowe and Kevin replacing Iwobi and King.
64 min Buendia has made a difference since coming on and he lashes a shot from the edge which flies over the bar.
63 min Fulham have barely participated in this half so far, and Villa look more likely to score a clincher than they do a livener.
61 min “How can the Chelsea one be given a penalty a few weeks ago and the Fulham one today not given?” wonders Michael Brown. “If anything the Fulham one today, was even more of a penalty as the shot was going on target. The Chelsea one was a cross with no obvious goal-scoring opportunity. They change the rules every week. They are ruining the game.”
I dom’t think the Cash one is a penalty – he slides in, his arm necessarily flies out, and he’s looking the other way. I do find that I’ve no longer a clue what many decisions will be – how, for example, was Nathan Collins not sent off for Brentford yesterday – but on the other hand, I think we can demand consistency within games but not across games, as refs are given leeway to interpret as they see fit, and VAR should only get involved if there’s an obvious error.
60 min Castagne slides in on Digne, studs up, catches him a right sair yin on the ankle, and somehow avoids a booking.
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57 min “He hardly ever scores, he’s 32 but his passing and crossing, at least since he’s been at Villa, has been without equal, says Tony Hughes of Lucas Digne. “He’s seen off Matt Targett, who I believe was Villa’s POTY, then Emery brought in Alex Moreno, and Digne kept his spot. Then Villa spent a huge amount on Ian Maatsen yet Digne – who took a pay cut to remains at Villa – is still there. He’s a survivor.”
It’s so rare to find natural width down the left; he brings balance to any team he’s in, and I bet Emery loves him.
55 min Bassey is booked for a foul. Fulham are falling apart here.
53 min Andersen has had better games. He loses out to Watkins down the left then, when Watkins falls, there are penalty shouts, but I think he tripped himself. Meantime, Fulham counter, Martinez clears straight into Traore, Lukic slides towards the empty net … and Konsa does brilliantly to clear off the line running towards his own box. This is suddenly absolutely wild; more please!
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GOAL! Aston Villa 3-1 Fulham (Buendia 52)
Two goals in two minutes and has Villa’s season started? They get at Fulham down the left, Buendia involved early in the move then hitting the box, as yet another ball in behind finds Watkins, who crosses low, and Buendia stabs into the net. What a chance from Unai Emery!
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GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Fulham (McGinn 50)
Another day, another jazzer of a captain’s goal! Traore, back to goal, is forced towards his own by remorseless pressing, then Bogarde pinches the ball off him and finds Buendia, who moves on one to McGinn. And the skipper takes a touch then, from the edge, cuts across a low left-footer that swerves out and into the near-post side-netting.
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48 min Rogers carries forward and, of course, Watkins attacks the last line, but the pass has too much on it.
47 min Elliott just wasn’t able to get going; I wonder if he might do better with space in front of him, so i the pivot alongside McGinn, rather than in behind Watkins.
46 min We go again; Villa have Buendia ready to come on and he replaces Elliott.
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Things that would not be missed: that thing that Sky do, when they have a break, then come back to tell you what you’re watching, before going to another break. I guess it spares us more Jamie Redknapp, so there’s that.
Half-time entertainment:
HALF-TIME: Aston Villa 1-1 Fulham
Fulham started really well with King outstanding, but Villa equalised out of nothing and were the better team thereafter.
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45+8 min Digne curls over the wall but without requisite power, Leno plunging right to make a comfortable save.
45+7 min A poor touch from Berge is seized upon by Bogarde, who finds Rogers; a poor touch allows Leno to clear but Guessand quickly picks up possession, buys a foul off Lukic, and Villa have a free-kick 25 yards out, right of the D. Digne will take…
45+6 min Eventually, Lukic swings it out, Villa clear, and Sessegnon’s ball back in dribbles through to Martinez.
45+5 min Berge bursts away from McGinn, who pulls him down and is booked; almost immediately, Fulham win a corner, Wilson and Lukic behind it.
45+4 min Why do sky now display time as 48.34, say, rather than 45+3.34?
45+3 min Iwobi coaxes a decent ball over the top and into the middle for the marauding Lukic, whose first touch is poor, taking him wide. But he recomposes, squaring for Wilson, who can’t quite dig the ball out from under his feet, poking a shot wide.
45+1 min Silva, on a rolling boil now, is booked for mouth after complaining about a booking handed to Wilson for a foul.
45 min We’ll have eight additional minutes, most of them for the treatment Jimenez took prior to departing injured.
44 min Villa like that ball over the top and McGinn clips a beauty seeking Rogers, running in behind, but he can’t quite take it down as it drops over his shoulder. Still, though, this is much better from the home side; Fulham could do with half-time.
42 min Marco Silva will be seething – a phrase I might stick on my clipboard – at the penalties his side didn’t get. For what it’s worth, I don’t think either satisfied what should be a high bar for an 80% chance of a goal, though the handball in particular is one we’ve seen given.
41 min Villa needed that goal badly – they’ve been third-best in this game so far. Now they have it, though, the onus is on them to push the pace, and that’s what they’re trying to do, Fulham pinned back for the first time.
39 min VAR wants to see if Watkins was offside … and he wasn’t!
GOAL! Aston Villa 1-1 Fulham (Watkins 38)
RELEASE! Digne clips a good long pass over the top, Watkins running in behind and away from Bassey. But really, the ball shouldn’t get anywhere near him because Andersen os underneath it, somehow clearing fresh air so, as Leno comes out, Watkins loops a terrific finish over him, ending the drought! Villa are level!
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36 min We see a graphic telling us that Watkins has touched the ball twice in 35 minutes; the same as Jimenez, who’s been off for half an hour. As Chris Sutton notes, his penalty in midweek was that of a man bereft of confidence, so he ought to have whacked it with his laces – likewise Bruno Fernandes yesterday, given how long he had to wait before taking it and how goods Caiomhin Kelleher is at saving them.
35 min But Villa pick up the loose ball, pump it into the box again, and when another clearance drops to the edge, Cash leathers way over the top.
34 min Rogers is starting to assert himself, holding off then running away from Lukic, who introduces him to grass and is booked. Free-kick Villa, 30 yards out, almost in line with the corner of the box; McGinn will swing in … and Wilson will head away.
32 min Pau Torres replaces Mings, so Villa lose a bit of physicality but now have a better passer to help them build the play.
31 min The first flash of Rogers, who wriggles past a challenge on halfway and finds Elliott, dashing into position for a return … but the ball goes backwards. Villa need to take more risks in possession because currently, Fulham are keeping them out of the box pretty easily.
30 min Jimenez has sustained an adductor injury, we’re told, and another with knack is Mings; on the touchline, Pau Torres is getting stripped.
28 min “In the interests of balance,” begins Paul Oakes, “I’m expecting a detailed review of the expensive bit of Villa Park’s catering offer, as today’s Grace Dent review is a restaurant inside Craven Cottage, and not on a match day! Features a really weird attempted deception as well.”
26 min Looking again at the King booking, he goes to ground before Martinez’s challenge comes; if he’d stayed up, he’d have been cleaned out, and that would’ve been a penalty.
24 min King is an absolute menace, twinkling in off the right, skipping across McGinn and shooting; Cash, spreading his body to block, wears the shot on his hand. Naturally Fulham want a penalty, but the ref turns them down … and so does VAR, I guess because the defender wasn’t looking at where the ball came from, so couldn’t do much to get out of the way. It’s a marginal one.
23 min Lovely from Fulham, Castagne and Wilson combining nicely to release Traore, who moves on to King; he drives towards into the box, goes down as Martinez comes out, and is booked for diving. I can’t argue with that, though I’m sure he’d run the anticipating contact defence.
22 min “Points of pedantry,” begins Benjamin Gravestock, “but VP’s camera viewpoint is in the Doug Ellis Stand not the Trinity Road one…
Can’t really blame you - I once was involved in considering the club as a venue for a corporate event, and was startled to see VP was mirrored in their own brochure, with all the stands in the wrong place…!
Other Villa thoughts: our issues with wing-back systems really haunted us with Crystal Palace and Manchester United at the end of last season, and I think Rashford being shoehorned in unbalanced the side slightly. Morgan Rogers’ club decline started after being pushed into the wider forward role by the presence of Asensio, too. Asensio created and scored enough that it didn’t really matter, but Rogers’ seems to still be struggling to adapt either to being wide or being back in the middle.
I still think this squad is good. The summer was frustrating, but if we can just keep going I think it’ll come back to us eventually. Personally I’m not among the bubbling Emery-doubters - this is certainly the best squad I’ve seen in my 30 years of following, and whilst no one can argue they’re playing well, I have faith!”
That’s odd – I checked, and Google told me the dugouts, opposite our view, are in the Doug. On Rashford, I totally didn’t buy the line we were fed that he was good at Villa, he wasn’t – and I don’t think the players were impressed with or by him either – and agree there’s a good side in there.
19 min Fulham’s attackers run the channels really well, and the balls down the line to bring them into play are hit really accurately. One finds Traore, who can’t make anything of it, but the tactic is giving them plenty of joy, and I see no reason why that won’t continue given how high Villa defend.
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18 min A poor touch from Bassey, followed by a poor, panicked pass, allows McGinn to steal the ball on the edge of the box, and he’s in! But opening his body, his curler wafts wide, and that’s a really good chance spurned.
16 min McGinn delivers left-footed – why aren’t more players able to take with both feet? – and Elliott peels away to the back post, clearly a planned move, then lashes back across, so Sessegnon blocks behind. The second corner comes to nowt.
15 min We’ve barely seen Villa as an attacking force. So far, the game is going exactly as Fulham want it – though, as I type, Guessand wins a corner down the right.
14 min Castagne humps a long pass forward and Wilson, who looks not unlike Fernando Torres, is in hectares. I’m pretty sure he went early, and sure enough the flag goes up for offside once he’s taken a bum touch and poked a shot wide of the near post.
12 min I said earlier I was looking forward to seeing Josh King today, and he diddles Bogarde on the touchline by allowing the ball to run through his legs, then drives towards the box. He’s got Traore alongside but he wants his first goal, opening his body to shoot low … and too close to Martinez. So far, he’s been the best player on the pitch.
11 min Ach, Jimenez has to go off; he’s replaced by Adama Traore. I’m not yet sure if he’ll go up front, but we’ll soon see.
10 min By the looks of things, Jimenez landed awkwardly when leaping to score. Life!
8 min Jimenez is down and looks in a fair bit of pain. With Muniz injured, Fulham don’t have much to bring on in the way of direct replacement if he can’t continue.
6 min It’s giving me so much naches to see set-pieces taken so well. This really shouldn’t be a fresh or retro development in the game – I’ve no idea why they were so widely ignored for so long. And the near-post corner, perfected by Anders Limpar and Steve Bould at Arsenal, is almost undefendable when done properly – a hard, flat cross, a flick-on, and bodies charging the middle of the six-yard box to bundle in. Glorious.
5 min And it isn’t. Fulham lead, and Villa need to find some confidence from somewhere.
4 min VAR wants a look at the goal; McGinn claimed he was fouled by Berge, but it’s clear immediately that they were wrestling each other. I’d be shocked if this was ruled out.
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GOAL! Aston Villa 0-1 Fulham (Jiménez 3)
Lukic swings a powerful cross towards the far post and Jiménez, dashing across the face of the six-yard box, guides a beautiful cushioned header into the far side-netting. More grief for Villa.
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3 min Now Fulham attack with King, who finds himself down the left side of the box, in space. He feeds Sessegnon, whose cross is blocked behind.
2 min There we go, Watkins attacks the space in behind, but Guessand takes a touch too many, so up goes the flag.
1 min I do not like this Villa Park camera angle – it’s way too high. Someone needs to trim the Trinity Road Stand.
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1 min Aaaand away we go!
…and here they come!
Our players are tunnelled…
It’s really great to see Ryan Sessegnon playing regularly. He was, of course, lauded as a stellar talent when really young, but struggled to establish himself at Spurs. I’m not totally confident in his defensive work, but I’m excited to see what he can do going forward.
It’s been a poor start to the season for Morgan Rogers, but given how well he played for England – admittedly against limited opposition – I wonder if his club travails are closely related to the absence of Tielemans. I also wonder if he’d expected to leave Villa this summer – I heard from someone I trust that he was off to Chelsea – and if that unsettled him. I guess it’s also the case that teams are wiser to him now – there’s a saying I’ve not heard for a while that you get your first season for free, and maybe he needs to adjust his game a little because opposition teams will be making specific plans for him.
What are we calling Harvey Elliott’s hairdo?
I’m going for shaggy step, and also enjoy the way his headphones turn his ear into a heart-shape.
Marco Silva tells Sky that Tete and Muniz are injured but that the team are “in a very good moment” having won one cup and two league games – and they were the better side at Chelsea, even though they lost. But they’re playing a really good side who have a really good manager.
I really enjoyed Ezri Konsa’s post-Bologna interview. He seems like an extremely sound lad.
Email! “Thank you for your kind, and deserved, words about Fulham and Marco Silva,” begins Richard Hirst. “As a lover of Bob Dylan you’ve always been known as a man of great discernment, other than in your support of Man Utd. On that note, I’m interested in your views of whether Marco is the kind of manager United could do with; has a clear tactical plan but is willing to be flexible and certainly won’t be pictured staring helplessly at the turf or not watching penalties? Marco’s contract expires at the end of this season and I imagine he’ll walk if he doesn’t get Fulham into Europe, and quite possibly even if he does.”
I’m not sure: managers have different strengths, and it might be that his is what he’s doing now. I think he’s got the aggression you need to manage the biggest clubs, but I’m not certain he whether he can coach a side to dominate the ball, or whether anyone in the world can turn United into anything resembling a football team.
Les Ferdinand, in the Sky studio, has just ranked Eberechi Eze in the top five players he ever played with, even though he didn’t play with him, and there can be no higher praise than that.
Also going on:
Where is the game? The way to get at Fulham is in wide areas, especially in the absence of the excellent Antonee Robinson. Villa, though, don’t have much in the way of wingers, so will, I imagine look to their full-backs to get around the outside. Otherwise, they’ll want Ollie Watkins to dart in behind – and, when crosses come in, attack the near post, with Elliott and Morgan Rogers looking for cut-backs.
Fulham, meanwhile, will look to defend deepish, then spring into counters. I’m looking forward to seeing how Josh King gets on – he, Harry Wilson and Alex Iwobi are all decent dribblers – and with his striker’s instinct, he’ll also look to get shots off and pick up second balls. I’m sure they’ll also target the space in behind Digne and Matt E. Cash, while Jiménez might play on Mings, who isn’t always the best marker.
Harvey Elliott says the midweek win was needed and lifted spirits. They’ve been fighting but “some things haven’t clicked” and they’re hoping to put on a performance in front of their own fans.
Emery recently spoke about him taking time to adapt last week; he took no offence, takes it in his stride, listens to what he’s told, and needs to put the advice into practise, not forcing things on the pitch.
The newer players want to help the team, and there are already some incredible ones in the team who haven’t find form. As long as they stick together they can “achieve many things” and he’s looking forward to showing that in the game.
As for Fulham, they make two changes: Timothy Castagne replaces Kenny Tete at right-back while, up front, Raúl Jiménez is in for Rodrigo Muniz.
So looking at his team in more detail, Emi Martínez, injured in midweek, is back in net while, at the back, Emery reverts to the back four which started against Sunderland, so Ian Maatsen and Pau Torres drop out, with Tyrone Mings and Lucas Digne returning. Then, in midfield, Lamare Bogarde comes in for Boubacar Kamara, with Harvey Elliott making his first Villa start in place of Emi Buendía.
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Unai Emery tells Sky that his team are happy to play in front of their supporters and are feeling strong. They need to play with energy, intensity and intelligence, showing their identity.
He’s giving Harvey Elliott a chance to show he’s adapted to his new surroundings, and he can feel comfortable in his surroundings, trying to link the play – while working hard, as every player needs to.
Otherwise, he wants Morgan Rogers to look forward and rediscover his form of last season, and thinks Marco Silva is one of the best managers around.
Teams!
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne; McGinn, Bogarde; Guessand, Elliott, Rogers; Watkins. Subs: Bizot, Kamara, Maatsen, Pau, Sancho, Buendia, Lindelof, Malen, Burrowes.
Fulham (4-2-3-1): Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Sessegnon,; Berge, Lukic; Wilson, King, Iwobi; Jiménez. Subs: Lecomte, Cuenca, Robinson, Reed, Cairney, Smith Rowe, Adama, Chukwueze, Kevin.
Referee: Andy Madley (Huddersfield)
Preamble
If all the words written and spoken about the Premier League were put next to each other, they’d stretch all the way to Uranus and back a total of 979,398,922,301 times. Yet if all the words written and spoken about Fulham were put next to each other, they’d barely stretch all the way to your, er ... nose.
Frankly, it’s an absolute travesty. Marco Silva is doing a fantastic job with limited resources, guiding his side to yet another solid start to a season, and they’ll fancy themselves to put it on Villa this afternoon. Their strength is founded centrally, the centre-back pairing of Joachim Andersen and Calvin Bassey, protected by midfield anchors Sasa Lukic and Sander Berge, giving them power, solidity and composure. Getting through them is not and will not be easy.
Especially given Villa have just one point, having scored just once in the league this season. They did manage a dicey Europa win in midweek, which will give them a bit of confidence, but only a bit: they still looked a fair way off the side that have been so impressive – and so fun – since Unai Emery became manager. They, and he, are already under serious pressure; lose today and that will increase by several orders of magnitude.
All of which is to say this should be an intense and fascinating contest – and it’s live!
Kick-off: 2pm BST
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