Key events
Full-time: Aston Villa 1-0 Fulham
Villa are firmly in the hunt for the Champions League. They rode out the tension, hung on to their early goal. Fulham’s European chances in the balance now. They look to Brentford, Brighton and Bournemouth now.
90+9 min: Bassey starts an attack. Will it be their last? Jacob Ramsey is cool in clearing the danger. Barkley attacks but then gives the ball away….one more attack…no, that’s it
90+7 min: Traore’s cross is cleared – just – by Konsa. Fulham pushing on and on.
90+6 min: Traore sets off on a rumbling run, and Digne tackles him to cheers and jeers.
90+5 min: Malen is sent through but…hits the bar. Oh no. Emery doesn’t know what to do. He’s at first angry and then encouraging. But always manic.
90+3 min: This is nervous at the Villa. They have failed to kill off a still-dangerous opponent.
90+2 min: Fulham fans fancy this one, despite their 10 men. Their team is dominating possession. Anderson’s ball fails to find Castagne.
90 min: There will be eight minutes of time added on. The Villa fans groan but there have been loads of stoppages. The referee gets abused for…doing his job.
89 min: Rogers and Cash double team on Traore, and the ball is behind for a goal-kick.
88 min: Villa content to play keep-ball around the ten men. Their fans are nervous, especially so once Fulham get the ball back. Emile Smith Rowe makes a mess of a shooting chance. Emery meanwhile is maniacal on the sidelines, doing his best Beetlejuice impression.
85 min: Malen and Bassey collide, and the defender goes to ground. Malen goes on and on – he’s such a lively player – but maybe not the best finisher. His shot goes somewhere near Solihull. Marco Silva is booked for complaining that play was allowed to go on.
83 min: Poor Harrison Reed has to limp down the tunnel, head in hands. That’s a sad sight.
82 min: Harrison Reed is down, and looks hurt. He’s limping badly and Fulham have made five changes. Something twanged badly there. That could be season over for him. Emery is considering his next change. Tielemans goes off, and Ross Barkley, another quality player, is coming on.
80 min: Jeers as Traore – former Wolves player – chases the ball and runs it out of play.
78 min: Cash will be OK to continue but sore in the morning. Malen, the sub, almost gets on the end as Rogers attacks the space down the right, zings the ball in and Leno makes a point-blank block that forces Malen to miss.
76 min: Matty Cash is so brave in throwing himself to block a ricochet-ing ball. Anderson smashes into him with the follow through. You can see the bruise coming up already. Ouch!
74 min: More changes: Harrison Reed and Willian on, Iwobi and Berge off. Iwobi looked like he had plenty more to offer. Reed comes on to take the latest terrible free-kick.
72 min: Villa have such a talented squad, so well constructed, with more to come, if an expensive wage bill. Emery is a manager prepared to rotate squads and sell to buy.
70 min: More Villa changes: Donyell Malen for Watkins, and then it’s Digne for Maatsen. The latter change surely made with Traore in mind.
69 min: Golden chance for Pau Torres, galloping up the field. Rogers had laid up but that was a defender’s finish.
67 min: Two Fulham changes: Tete and Wilson off, Castagne and Traore on. That should add some spice down the wings.
66 min: Berge is booked for a foul on Tielemans. The Norwegian hasn’t enjoyed himself at all.
64 min: A chance to Harry Wilson, and one he could have done rather better with.
63 min: Justin Kavanagh: “Wow! Unai Emery was so enraged by Konsa’s dithering that he probably threw more punches at the air than Ryan Garcia did in Times Square last night. If I was Konsa, I’d ask Marco Silva if he could use the visitor’s dressing room after the game.”
Will Oliver: “John, can you translate Unai’s tantrum into English? That looked like angry Cricket or baseball.”
61 min: Maatsen, who’s been lively, pings in a shot. Though was it a cross? It’s end of season stuff though with plenty to play for.
59 min: It’s Ramsey and Onana on, McGinn and Asensio off. McGinn hands the armband to Emi Martinez.
56 min: It’s full-pelt stuff, and Alex Iwobi is coming more to the fore. Looks like Emery has seen enough and wants to make changes.
54 min: Fulham break at speed. Emery is furious as Wilson goes early with his effort. That’s a meme-able reaction. He went absolutely radio rental.
53 min: Can Villa ride out the storm? They have a free-kick, which is again wasted by being smashed at Harry Wilson’s shins. Not another McPhee classic.
51 min: Nicholas von Maltzahn gets in touch: “Gary Naylor’s poetic sense of the occasion at Anfield (35 min) was shared by your colleague Barney Ronay, who had this in his write-up last Sunday:
“Even the trains north had carried a gathering excitement, like a Whitsun wedding weekend, whoops and skirls down the platform at each stopping point, the feeling of Liverpool spread out in the sun up ahead.”
Barney – like me – is a big fan of Hull’s most famous librarian.
50 min: Fulham have the ball in the net. Did Sessegnon handball it? He took it down and smashed in. VAR shows it was a handball. Rob Jones the ref bided his time…good process, lads.
48 min: Fulham have also had a half-time rocket and Lukic is denied as he and Jimenez fly at the ball. Rogers also immediately goes close. They’re both lobbing kitchen sinks at this. And why not?
46 min: We are back underway and Villa almost score straight away, as Watkins has a golden chance to score but loses the run of himself. That’s a bad miss, Ollie.
Half-time: Aston Villa 1-0 Fulham
It closes out with Iwobi going close: he smashes wide. Villa have been the better team, but have failed to build on Tielemans’ goal. Much to play for in the second half, and with plenty at stake.
45 min: Ooof, Tielemans smashes the ball after being laid up by McGinn. A screamer, and what a save from Leno. No corner given, but then the Villa screens show the German got a touch…boooooo! Just a minute added on. It’s been breathless, all-action.
44 min: Kenny Tete penalised. That’s a second foul from him. He looks annoyed with the ref.
43 min: Fulham just can’t get into it. Villa are all over their midfield and yet don’t look too dangerous…..oh here’s a chance for Jimenez, who finds no support so has a dig from distance.
42 min: Bad free-kick time: a waste of a promising position as Sasa Lukic thrashes the ball into the wall.
40 min: Cash is sent away by Asensio but there Villa hit heavy traffic. Fulham are defending deep.
39 min: Leno slides out to hack away a ball aimed at Watkins. Villa seeking a second before half-time.
38 min: Rogers – at last – shows off his skill, bobbing and weaving but his ball to Watkins is intercepted.
37 min: Villa with most of the ball but not looking too sharp in attack. They’re rather grinding through the gears here.
35 min: Gary Naylor gets in touch: Approaching Liverpool on the train en route to Goodison, admittedly at the beginning rather than the end of May, I was reminded of Phillip Larkin’s poem, The Whitsun Weddings I’ll just say that times change…
The good news for Hull City fan Phil is that his team are out of danger. For now.
34 min: Fulham free-kick, aimed at Jimenez, with calls for a Matty Cash pull. There was zero contact so we play on.
33 min: A push on Watkins? No says referee Rob Jones. The Fulham Jolly Boys make themselves heard for the first time. Their team has not been too good so far. Not that Villa are flying.
Peter Lansley
31 min: From Villa Park. This was a strange moment:
“Strange little irritation for Villa after their goal. Morgan Rogers, having contributed the pre-assist before the assist, his pass releasing Asensio to shoot to win the corner, is asked to stay off the pitch for 30 seconds after he went to change his shirt on the touchline in the downtime between goal and kick-off. He was well grumpy about that.”
30 min: Yellow card for Sessegnon for hauling back Maatsen. A cheap yellow, too.
