One of the most popular tickets in town right now is to watch Aston Villa play at home.
Ollie Watkins (right) of Aston Villa celebrates with teammates Youri Tielemans (center) and Leon Bailey (right).
With the victory over Fulham, Villa Park equaled a post-war record of 13 straight league victories, a run that hadn’t been seen since 1983, when Gary Shaw, who is now a regular in the press box, was a member of the team. Another will bring the total club record, set in 1931, to 14. And what’s coming up next in the league at home? Manchester City and Arsenal will face off over four demanding, difficult, and ultimately thrilling days in December. Two things to anticipate.
For now, though, it’s time to celebrate a spectacular run, maybe wondering how to bring something akin to this kind of momentum to life on the road (at least for Unai Emery).
Only Manchester City and Liverpool still trail Villa in the Premier League’s goal differential standings, as they have the best home record. Additionally, they have scored three goals or more in each of their first six Premier League games this year, which has allowed them to join an elite group that only City had in the previous season.
Embrace your work with QuillBot: the best writing tool powered by AI.
QuillBot-
There is a belief that they can complete the task, even if they are not operating at maximum capacity all the time. Their momentum is strong.
However, the away record, which is ranked 13th in the table, is far less remarkable.
Getting 18 points from the six home games with 23 goals scored and only 5 goals allowed. In their quest for seven points, only six goals were scored and twelve were given up. I’ll save that for another day.
It can take a while to const
ruct, fortify, and develop a fortress. Once built, they frequently require some adjusting. And with Villa right now, that is the situation.
During the Premier League match at Villa Park on Remembrance Sunday afternoon, Youri Tielemans of Aston Villa takes on Calvin Bassey of Fulham. Villa were ahead early on, with Moussa Diaby forcing a great save from Bernd Leno following excellent work down the left by Lucas Digne and Youri Tielemans.
Referee Simon Hooper gave Timothy Castagne a penalty for handball almost immediately after, but he later overturned the call after being asked to review the play by VAR because it appeared the ball had struck the Fulham defender in the face.
Even though Villa maintained control of the ball, it took a prompt interception by Ezri Konsa to keep Fulham from scoring first, stopping Castagne’s low cross from going to Raul Jimenez.
After 27 minutes, Villa’s superior possession finally paid off as they took the lead.
On his first Premier League start since joining the team in the summer, Tielemans had been demonstrating some excellent left-wing breaks. Diaby was unable to quite connect with a low cross from Tielemans, but he applied enough pressure that the ball deflected off Antonee Robinson and into the Fulham goal.
Just before halftime, Villa was in complete control of the game, and Matty Cash cut inside to force another save out of Leno before John McGinn increased the lead.
After making a clean sidestep and picking up the ball outside the box, the captain fired expertly into the bottom corner.
A lick of paint denied Raul Jimenez as his low drive bounced back off the post, giving Fulham their closest chance of the game at the beginning of the second half. Fulham had threatened on occasion on the break in the first half without really troubling Emiliano Martinez.
As Villa struggled to regain control of the game in the first half, Willian missed a close-range shot just before the hour mark, signaling the start of a respectable spell for the visitors.
However, a devastating Villa break from a Fulham corner turned defense into attack in the 64th minute, as Ollie Watkins—who actually headed the flag kick away—made it three.
After making a clean sidestep and picking up the ball outside the box, the captain fired expertly into the bottom corner.
John McGinn of Aston Villa celebrates
Alternate With tremendous effort, Leon Bailey moved to connect with McGinn and then sent over the cross, which Watkins delivered at close range.
But, Fulham’s quick reply saw Jimenez score the team’s first goal after Robinson broke free and crossed from the left, ending any hopes of total relaxation for the final 20 minutes.
Although there were a few nervous moments, particularly when Fulham broke Villa’s high line, the defense held firm for the most part, and Carlos Vinicius’s excitement was disregarded when the flag went up even though he believed he had scored.
Watkins will be wondering how he didn’t manage a second after heading wide as the ball came back to him after bouncing off the crossbar. At the other end, Villa were still posing a threat to the score.
Still, Villa moved up to fifth in the table and within close proximity of those above, securing the points. Following the international break, Villa will resume with a schedule of ten games in 35 days, having played six in three weeks prior.
Those assignments with City, Arsenal, and first Tottenham are included in that, as are three of the upcoming four Premier League games to pique interest and demonstrate Villa’s progress.On this evidence, challenges to be savored, especially at Villa Park, where a healthy dose of home comforts has laid some seriously solid foundations over the first three months of the season.
Leave a Reply