OLLIE WATKINS served up a treat and a trick to rescue manager Unai Emery from an early scare at Fulham.
A number of eyebrows were raised during the international break when Lee Carsley ghosted Watkins for the defeat against Greece despite an injury to Harry Kane.
PAOllie Watkins helped keep up Aston Villa’s impressive unbeaten run[/caption]
GettyThe England striker gave Villa a second-half lead at Craven Cottage[/caption]
ReutersRaul Jimenez had earlier given Fulham the lead[/caption]
Watkins’ international break would have been sweetened by news that there at least be a new boss in place next year.
And just in case Thomas Tuchel was watching, Watkins produced a horror show for Fulham’s defence to send Villa heading back up the table.
First, he scored a sublime set-piece header, appearing from the shadows to give Villa a 2-1 lead just after the break.
Then his pace tricked Joachim Andersen into getting sent off, reducing Fulham to 10 men for the final third of the match.
Yet as the Villa bus meandered its way to Craven Cottage through the west London streets, there was a growing sense that it was Emery who was about to suffer a haunting.
Injury to Sasa Lucic while on international duty with Bosnia had given Emile Smith Rowe a rare place in the starting line-up,
And the Halloween decorations already out in the streets were a reminder of how these things often go in football.
As it was, another of Emery’s former Arsenal signings produced the killer assist that broke the deadlock after just five minutes. One that nobody would have guessed.
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Mind you, goalkeeper Bernd Leno’s massive punt should never have got to Raul Jimenez.
Nightmarishly, Pau Torres let the ball bounce, the Fulham striker stole in behind him and his shot was perfectly placed just inside the post.
Villa equalised instantly. Morgan Rogers dropping off the defence to collect the ball and fire a low shot which deflected cruelly off Calvin Bassey to wrong-foot Leno completely.
Fulham were not done and continued to take the play to Villa, earning a chance to regain the lead from the penalty spot after 27 minutes.
It is hard to say which was softer – the VAR decision that Matty Cash was at fault when the ball hit his hand was more than a little harsh on the Villa defender.
However, it was still not as soft as Andreas Pereira’s shot, which Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez smothered gratefully.
Villa were sloppy in possession and wasteful with their passing – a very different team to the one that went into the international break on the back of five games unbeaten in the league.
The one clear chance they managed before the break fell to Rogers again.
Much easier than the one he netted, he somehow diverted Watkins’ cross wide from an unmarked position.
Watkins did little to hide his look of disdain and from that moment he seemed determined to
He met a Youri Tielemans corner on the hour and steered his header with clinical precision under the crossbar, although Leno will be disappointed to be beaten at his near post.
AlamyEmi Martinez saved Andreas Pereira’s penalty to keep the scores level[/caption]
ReutersMorgan Rodgers had levelled things up after the early Fulham goal[/caption]
ReutersAll hope for the hosts was lost as Joachim Andersen saw red[/caption]
Watkins continued to go from strength to strength and when he burst through on Andersen, Fulham’s last man shoved him just outside the area and was immediately shown a red card.
Marco Silva brought on substitutes to grab a goal, but Fulham were now having their own nightmares.
With his first touch, Issa Diop diverted Lucas Digne’s low cross past Leno and into the back of the net.
Two stupid yellow cards for Villa substitute Jaden Philogene saw him trudge mournfully off the pitch.
But there was no stopping the visitors heading back up the road with a sweet victory.