Aston Villa analysis: Best win yet for Steve Bruce's side

For that reason alone Saturday’s 2-1 win over Fulham would have been pleasing enough for Villa boss Steve Bruce.

When you also throw in the quality of the opponent and the fact the victory saw Villa into the Championship top six for the first time since relegation from the Premier League 17 months ago, then you begin to understand why this was the high point of the campaign to date.

Having experienced perhaps their worst outing of the season in the chastening derby defeat to Wolves, Villa followed it with arguably their finest.

True, the margin of victory might not have matched those achieved last month at Barnsley and Burton.

Yet having suffered a nasty blow to their collective self-esteem just seven days previously, Bruce’s men will feel they delivered an emphatic answer to those who questioned their promotion credentials in the wake of the Molineux no-show.

Slavisa Jokanovic’s Fulham are a more than handy outfit, who are themselves more than likely to be in the shake-up at the top end of the table come May.

But on Saturday they were deservedly, if not comfortably beaten, by a Villa team which appeared to have learned some swift lessons about how best to tackle opponents comfortable in possession.

Bruce, rarely the recipient of much credit on the tactical front, could take deserved plaudits for his team selection.

The manager made just one change, though it proved decisive as Josh Onomah responded to his recall with an all-action performance from the first whistle to the last. Onomah set his stall out in the first minute when he slid in strongly to dispossess Oliver Norwood.

By the 94th minute, the Tottenham loanee was still motoring around the pitch, his challenge on Tom Cairney snuffing out the visitors’ final attack as they vainly hunted a leveller.

His performance typified Villa’s willingness to press their opponents high up the pitch which meant that, while Fulham always carried a threat through the pace of Ryan Fredericks and Ryan Sessegnon, it was matched by the home side, who pounced on any moment of hesitation.

This was undoubtedly a step forward for Villa. Last month’s four-game winning run might have proven their ability to dispense with the division’s lesser lights, yet there remained a sense that against quality opponents a different approach might be needed. On Saturday, they may well have found it.

This was also a victory which owed plenty to players on whom Bruce has been able to regularly depend during the season’s opening two months.

Conor Hourihane delivered the free-kick from which John Terry headed his first Villa goal to put the hosts ahead midway through the first half.

Then, after Albert Adomah had fired home his sixth goal in eight games to restore the advantage following Stefan Johansen’s equaliser, goalkeeper Sam Johnstone pulled off a superb save to deny Floyd Ayite and ensure the points remained Villa’s.

It is now five wins in six games for Bruce’s men with a Second City derby against Blues, a game when form and style gives way to heart, next up.

But after a week which perhaps contained a little soul-searching, they are approaching the challenge with optimism renewed.

Villa (4-1-4-1): Johnstone 7, Elmohamady 6, Chester 7, Terry (c) 7, Hutton 7, Snodgrass 5 (De Laet 81), Whelan 7, Hourihane 6, Adomah 8 (Bjarnason 86), Onomah 9, Kodjia 5 (Davis 73 5) Subs not used: Samba, Hogan, O’Hare, Steer (gk).