Fulham’s run of misery at Villa Park has come to an end with an encouraging performance in tonight’s 1-1 draw. A strong first half was undone by a goal for Nicolas Jackson coming through a poorly defended counter-attack - undeterred, Fulham rallied in the second half and put the pressure on Villa, creating several near-misses before benefitting from an uncharacteristic error from top performer Zion Suzuki. Whilst Alvaro Arbeloa still has work to do in finding the clinical touch for the team in front of goal, there is a sense the team have found something of a rhythm in the Premier League, and can take a lot of positives moving into November.
First Half
Aston Villa are one of many sides in transition, and their new-look XI entered the game with a decent spell of league form behind them, chasing us around Villa Park as we tried to settle into the game. Our possession was largely in our own half, Berge and Charles moving amongst the backline to try and help the team wriggle away from a high press. The early action being concentrated in Fulham territory did actually help us forge the first chance of the game - industrious defensive work from Bobb saw him dispossess Manzambi, taking the ball into Villa’s half with a run and setting Garcia away down the right. His creative run dragged Villa’s backline into the box, allowing him to cross along the ground into open space. A deflection off Lindelof saw it travel to Iwobi, square in front of the goal… but he couldn’t adjust his body correctly and skied his shot.
It was the last we’d see of Suzuki and the Villa goal for a while. Their energy and attacking work-rate was far higher than ours, breathing down our necks with each kick of the ball. Cash slipped Alysson through into the box, needing Robinson to muscle him off the ball - the corner, the first of many we’d concede warding away danger, saw Goretzka knock McGinn’s delivery over the bar with a header. They were swarming everywhere - the usually unflappable Charles found himself giving the ball away in the box under pressure, thankfully sharp enough to recover and put himself between Manzambi’s shot and the goal.
Indeed, Villa’s new winger proved lively, needing Berge to come and support Castagne and winning ground and set-pieces for his team. The accumulation of corners built the pressure further, and as Goretzka headed the ball into Leno’s hands VAR spotted our error - Berge’s momentum whilst trying to stop the German saw his arms swing into the air, his left catching the ball in motion. A quick check at the monitor brought the worst, as McGinn collected the ball and placed it on the spot… before smacking his strike onto the crossbar, his awkward execution flying back into the pitch.
It was a welcome relief for us, but Villa hardly seemed deterred, throwing themselves along every avenue to try and open the scoring. A long ball from Lindelof was controlled superbly by left-back Maatsen, needing an excellent block from Affengruber to cut out his cross, Robinson again showed his muscle to wrestle the sprightly Alysson off the ball on another goalbound run, and Charles was pinched again as Kamara stole the ball and fed it to Goretzka, muscling through the pitch to take aim at goal and curling it narrowly over the bar.
Our resilience seemed to instigate a little life in our own attack. As ever it was King trying to spark life by taking the ball forward, allowing Fulham players to move into Villa territory. Robinson looked his sharpest in a while, using his pace to evade Cash and the backtracking Alysson and guiding some missile-passes across the final third. There was still danger on the break from the aerial balls Villa launched; Suzuki found Jackson, suckering Affengruber into a clumsy attempted-tackle for a yellow card and a free kick we’d have to deal with - but with a spring in our step Charles’ clearance of the free-kick let Robinson capitalise, beating Alysson to the loose ball and surging along the wing, soaring into Villa’s half and onto the edge of their box before playing the ball across the final third. Garcia’s leave was clever, though a little off-putting for Bobb, whose first touch was a little heavy - the resulting shot was just close enough for Suzuki to make a superb save, pushing the ball behind the goal and denying us the opener.
Garcia was involved shortly afterwards, collecting an aerial ball of our own and creating nice interplay on the left with Iwobi, blasting a shot through Torres’ legs and marginally wide of the goal. But in our positive strides we’d switched out of the defensive focus that had kept Villa’s pacey attack at bay. From Cash’s ball out from the back, a dummy by Alysson deceived a reckless press from Castagne, letting Manzambi move the ball left to an unopposed Jackson. The striker cruised along the open channel, reaching the box and maneuvering around Affengruber and the hapless back-tracking Castagne to place the ball into the net. In a moment that looked our best in the game, Villa had stolen a goal through our ramshackle defending - and the pressure was back on us to counter our goalscoring troubles.
Robinson continued to work hard but without Garcia maintaining a presence in the box they seldom produced a shot, as did the corners Iwobi swung in. The forward’s build-up play was better, collecting another aerial ball from Affengruber and slipping King in as he cut inside away from Cash - Josh, for all his talents, is not a striker, and the heavy touch again offered Suzuki the time to dive into action, making the crucial touch to take the ball away from a King shot. It was the theme of the half, and increasingly the season - energy and elegance in the build-up, met with a dearth of confidence in the box itself, and individual mistakes in defence dashing the momentum being built in response.
Second Half
Bassey collecting a yellow card on the cusp of the break meant both our centre-backs had a half to play on the edge, and with Villa likely to stage a wealth of counter-attacks we couldn’t afford many repeats of the situation in the first half, where quick transitions stung us around the park. Accordingly the team returned to the pitch with added zeal, pinging quick passes around Villa to seize control of their half and create the opening. It almost worked immediately - from Bassey, Robinson and Iwobi combined on the left of the box, playing as though Villa’s defenders ceased to exist. Robinson’s cross fizzed ahead of Cash… Suzuki once again had the hands to steer it just off-kilter for Garcia, and his slide couldn’t guide the ball home.
Villa’s first counter came through some slick passing of their own - a lovely ball from Torres travelled through our midfield to McGinn, who quickly dispatched Jackson against a dawdling Castagne - the striker reached the box, cut inside and drilled an effort along the ground. But the majority of the action was in their half, as we continued to probe with our possession play. The entrance to the box seemed welded shut, the pressure enough to offer a flash of a chance before the backline locked up the route to the goal. More infuriating was the sense that on the occasions we actually put ourselves in sight of a chance, the ball was actively defying us in our attempts to equalise. An Iwobi corner from the left was headed on by Castagne, finally putting the ball in the sensitive six-yard box for an easy conversion… only for Charles to scuff his touch upwards from point-blank range, bouncing off Garcia’s shoulder and out.
We continued to work the channels, Castagne linking nicely with the confidence of Bobb on the right, the Norwegian taking on Maatsen and everyone around him to cut inside - the shots needed work, as Villa still got bodies in the way, or made themselves enough of an obstacle to put our finishes off, Charles the latest to put an effort off-target. The danger, obviously, came whenever Villa found a crack of light in our own half - Bassey had a wobble and allowed Alysson to sneak into the box, needing a smart low save from Leno to keep his effort out, and was still alert in the aftermath of the corner, with Maatsen’s volley deflecting awkwardly off Lindelof and needing another sharp reaction in a test of our keeper’s positional awareness.
Bobb’s latest dazzling run forward got him around the wilting Manzambi and towards the goalline. He lifted the ball into the box, perfectly placed for Iwobi to head into the net… yet he could only find Suzuki with the effort, and Garcia’s attempt to knock in the rebound was blocked by a timely Lindelof lunge. We had yet another corner, Iwobi’s delivery curling high and straight to the keeper… only for Suzuki, having played a stellar game, to bounce the ball over the line with his hands. After so many near-misses it was a strange twist that a fluke mistake from the game’s best performer gave us parity.
The triple change Villa made indicated Unai Emery wanted an injection of life, with fresh wingers in Buendia and Mbaye and Joao Gomes to revitalise Villa around a Fulham-dominated midfield. He’d have to wait for an instant impact, as King and Bobb kept the energy up with their dribbling and movement. With Affengruber cutting out Villa’s attempts to get Jackson back involved, we had a lot of joy turning play back on their transitions into attack - a counter-attack saw Bobb cruise along the right once more, Villa’s troops chasing after him, Iwobi freed along the left and played into the box at speed, Cash just making the distance up to divert the shot at goal. It proved to be his last involvement - captain Cairney arrived to try and turn the screw and push Fulham into the lead.
Was this the right move? Iwobi, for all his troubles in front of goal, had worked nicely keeping things fluid around the pitch. Cairney, though just as talented with a ball at his feet, lacked the presence along the left, indicated by having to take a yellow stopping Mbaye storming towards the box. We might have made it work if the next changes hadn’t removed hardworkers Bobb and King - whilst Tete and Palacios have qualities of their own, both lie further from the frontline, and with Barkley arriving for Villa impetus drifted into the hosts’ hands. Our attacks were fewer and more reactive - a long ball from Tete being knocked down by Garcia, moved by Palacios to Robinson, Antonee drilling into the box and forcing through a shot for Suzuki to save. A pleasant sight, but not one made by a team enjoying the same control as before.
The unwieldy formation, with our wingers now Palacios and Castagne, and a front press of Garcia and Cairney, grew the tension hanging over the scoreline. Villa moved into our half, winning set-pieces through the free-kicks and corners their energy started accumulating. Their deliveries were impressive, Cash and Buendia both guiding balls into sensitive spaces, but Torres twice knocked headers wide of the post to waste the opportunity his team generated. Arbeloa made more tweaks, Muniz and Larsson entering to seemingly consolidate the point, and with Garnacho emerging from the bench to try and squeak a victory from the game Fulham needed serious concentration to survive the closing stages. To their credit, they found this - each man on the pitch pulling their weight, be it Tete blocking Garnacho’s mazey run and shot, Palacios closing Buendia down to deny a late shot, our centre-backs bolting up the box or Muniz holding up the ball to eat time away in the game. Such margins translate into points, and a Cairney clearance signalled ours at the match’s culmination.
A timely response
If you’d have offered me a point prior to the game I’d have taken it. Aston Villa are a Champions League team, a side with wins over the likes of Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain in recent years, and perhaps most importantly a team we have endured several miserable results against since Emery’s appointment. After the awful mood following the midweek cup elimination we saw marked improvements from several key players, and made Villa look as nervous as Hull or Coventry did in our recent victories over them.
I was really excited to see Robinson show signs of life - after a pitiful showing in the midweek he rallied himself and was brilliant along the left, dragging Alysson for a ride across the evening. The crosses were sharper, and our attacking consequently had an extra edge, with the added bonus of bringing Iwobi into play more frequently as well. Bobb’s confidence continues to grow on the right - a pleasure to watch cruising down the wing, and deserving of far more assists than what we are giving him at present. King was a little rustier than in previous weeks but of course continued to emerge in spaces around the attack, and Garcia’s link-up play and drive seemed sharper than some of his recent efforts for us, the overall impact forcing Suzuki into a busy evening for Villa.
And yet… we only have a single goal to show for a night we were largely on top of Villa throughout, our possession failing to instill the confidence to finish any of our chances, and (if Iwobi can’t wrangle the goal for himself) a fluke own goal needed to earn the draw in the end. The momentum evaporates in the box - all the players are guilty of freezing in the key moments, to almost comical effect at times, and when your striker ends up drifting away from goal to put himself into the action an unintended consequence is a team where everyone hopes another man is willing to finish the chance. You look at the team’s quality, crystal clear throughout the passages of play, but it is obfuscated behind the chances we miss, and the results we fail to collect as a result. It doesn’t help either when the substitutes are wrong at a crucial time again - taking momentum out of the match by removing the best attackers and throwing on ill-fitting replacements with Villa rampant for a late winner.
To offer some praise of Arbeloa, if we ignore Castagne’s blunders for the goal, I thought we were very strong defensively. If we ignore the opening games we have conceded 4 goals in 6 games in the league with 3 clean sheets - Bassey and Affengruber have made quite the team, Berge and Charles are a solid protective tool even when their contributions aren’t spectacular (or they give away cheap penalties) and with Robinson stepping it up today the work around them made for a healthier disposition too. The team are close to looking functional again - with time to get the whole squad pulling together, I don’t think we are terribly far from pairing our quality of play with some terrific results.
Emery - Villa’s golden ticket
Aston Villa have Barcelona in a few days’ time so one wonders if their energy is being reserved for a trip to the Nou Camp… the performance tonight was some way off the energy levels seen in their win over Manchester City, for instance, and after the initial wave of pressing they threw at us in the first half they were the subordinate force in the game until they brought players off the bench in the second half. It’s understandable that the new-look team will have games like this, where Fulham’s love of the ball makes for an evening of chasing and harrying, but with the midfield unable to push themselves into the game Villa’s main strategy was aerial attacks to their pacey forwards, hardly a reliable route to goal against a functioning Premier League defence.
That said, it’s hard to dismiss the achievements of Emery at the club, even in a game like this - they’ve recruited well, most obviously with Suzuki refreshing the vacancy Martinez left behind, but also through the attacking trio Manzambi, Jackson and Alysson, who for all their sides’ inconsistency are generating chemistry and goals for their side. To lose the core of the Europa League winning side and be able to turn the game their way with the bench is impressive, blending veterans like Barkley and Buendia with young talent like Mbaye. They have a top manager, and with Arbeloa still working out how to make a substitution you can feel the difference in the closing stages of the game with a strong head making the decisions. We will be incredibly lucky to be three points behind Villa at the end of the season.