OLLIE WATKINS ended his 10-game wait for a goal as Aston Villa finally clinched their first Premier League victory of the season.
Just when Unai Emery’s season looked set to suffer another setback after Raul Jimenez had given Fulham a shock third-minute lead, Watkins put his struggles behind him with a moment of magic to level the scores.
Emi Buendia gives Aston Villa a commanding advantage[/caption]
Buendia celebrates his important goal[/caption]
The England striker missed a penalty against Bologna on Thursday as his frustrating run continued.
But here, he made the most of a long ball from Lucas Digne as Fulham skipper Joachim Andersen’s missed his attempted interception.
The chance presented itself as the ball bounced into Watkins’ path.
He still had work to do, but he was able to lob the ball over keeper Bernd Leno and it dropped, inch-perfect, under the crossbar for Villa’s equaliser.
The joy on Watkins’ face said it all as his goal drought came to an end – his last one came at Bournemouth last season.
And that was a cue for the Villa Park gloom to lift as Emery’s team finally turned their forward talent into goals.
Second half sub Emi Buendia made sure Villa sealed their opening three points of the current campaign.
He set up skipper John McGinn for Villa’s second just after the break – and then added a third himself after being set up by Watkins.
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Villa scored their opening goal of the season in the draw at Sunderland last week – and McGinn’s strike against Bologna earned a Europa League victory.
This was a team that was supposed to be struggling to find the net.
But Emery will hope this dominant display will finally kick start their league season.
The day did not start well for Villa though – and it looked as though their troubles were starting to pile up.
Just when Villa needed a boost, they suffered an early setback – going a goal down in under three minutes.
Sasa Lukic’s corner was met by Jimenez who peeled off and steered a header into the far corner.
A VAR check folloed for a possible by Sander Berge on John McGinn – with the Villa skipper wrestled to the ground – but the goal was allowed.
Jimenez’s joy was short-lived however as he was forced to come off just seven minutes later.
The Mexico striker fell to the ground clutching his midriff and was replaced by ex-Villa forward Adama Traore
Josh King caused Villa problems with his pace – but he was given a yellow card for simulation as he and keeper Emi Martinez went for a 50-50 ball.
John McGinn thwacks his side 2-1 in front[/caption]
The Cotland international passionately celebrated firing Villa into the lead[/caption]
Villa responded well to going behind and McGinn burst through before firing a powerful shot wide when he should have been on target
The game became scrappy as Villa tried to force their way back into the game.
But then Watkins levelled the scores with his instinctive goal.
Morgan Rogers had a similar chance just before the break but could not bring the ball under control.
But Fulham were not happy with ref Andy Madley.
His decision to book King for diving was compounded when he refused to give Fulham a free-kick.
Boss Marco Silva was shown a yellow card for his protests – along with Fulham forward Harry Wilson.
Ollie Watkins dinks Fulham stopper Bernd Leno[/caption]
Watkins looked relieved to have scored his first goal of the season[/caption]
But Villa took the game by the scruff of the neck after the break – and sub Buendia made an immediate impact.
The Argentine forward fed McGinn after 50 minutes – and the Scotsman found the net with a superbly placed shot.
Then Buendia got on the scoresheet just two minutes later.
Watkins cut raced into the box and cut the ball back for Buendia who forced the ball home from close range.
But Fulham would have pulled one back straight away but for a brilliant goal-line clearance from Ezri Konsa. A mix up at the back allowed Alex Iwobi to set up Lukic – but his shot was blocked by Konsa who collided with the post as he prevented the goal.
Raul Jimenez flicks Fulham in front early on[/caption]
The Mexican celebrates scoring his side’s early opener[/caption]
