Nicolas Jackson scored his eighth goal in 10 games but an error from goalkeeper Zion Suzuki meant Aston Villa had to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Fulham. Villa should have gone ahead after 15 minutes when they were awarded a penalty following a review when Sander Berge was penalised for a handball in the box as he jumped with Leon Goretzka at a corner. With neither Emi Buendia nor Ross Barkley in the line-up, John McGinn stepped up to take the penalty but the Scotland international - who had only ever taken a penalty for Villa in a shoot-out - smashed the ball against the crossbar and over.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player The home side nearly paid a heavy price for McGinn's miss straightaway after a Fulham counter-attack, but Oscar Bobb was brilliantly denied the opener by a one-handed save from Suzuki who tipped the ball over. Villa went in front after Timothy Castagne's error allowed Johan Manzambi to play a ball through to Jackson, who cut inside and beat David Affengruber, before wriggling clear of the recovering Castagne to slide the ball past Bernd Leno. There were chances at both ends in the second half, with Victor Lindelof almost extending Villa's when he directed Ian Maatsen's effort towards goal only to be denied by a reflex save from Leno.
Suzuki was forced to divert a Matty Cash away from the on-rushing Gonzalo Garcia before saving an Alex Iwobi header from eight yards out. But Villa's goalkeeper made an unforced error when he allowed an Iwobi corner to slip through his fingers and bounce over the goal-line before he could retrieve it as Fulham drew level. Suzuki got down at his near post to make a late save to deny Antonee Robinson, before Pau Torres headed wide from 12 yards out at the other end as both sides had to settle for a point apiece.
There was something rather telling about the reaction of the Fulham players to their travelling supporters at full-time. This was not a team celebrating a point like they had got away with something. It was a team that knew they had given their fans plenty to shout about.
Fulham were excellent for large parts of their 1-1 draw at Aston Villa. They took the game to Unai Emery's side, dictated the tempo for long spells and created enough opportunities to leave Villa Park feeling they should have taken more. The underlying numbers reinforce the eye test.
Fulham generated 2.2 expected goals, the fifth-highest total recorded by any visiting team at Villa Park since the start of the 2023/24 season. They also registered 40 touches inside the Villa penalty area. That is serious territorial dominance against a side who rarely allow opponents to dictate terms on home soil.
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