Fulham 0 Aston Villa 3 - Report and pictures

Monday night’s 3-0 win at Fulham - only their second at Craven Cottage since 1970 - means they have opened a top flight campaign with back-to-back wins for the first time in 21 years.

To this point it is very much a case of so far, so good.

Goals from Jack Grealish, Conor Hourihane and Tyrone Mings earned Dean Smith’s team a win which by the final whistle had them sitting in the top four.

No-one expects them to stay there, of course, and the key caveat to this performance was the dire display of their hosts.

Yet Villa exploited the defensive deficiencies of Scott Parker’s side with a ruthless efficiency too often lacking last term. This was only the second time since returning to the top flight they had scored more than two goals in a match.

Grealish had them in front inside four minutes, with Hourihane doubling the advantage after 15. Mings’ goal early in the second half ended the match as a contest and for Villa the only frustration was their failure to win by more, club record signing Ollie Watkins spurning several good chances.

Smith’s team are also yet to concede in the league this term and this was the first time they have kept a clean sheet on the road since returning to the Premier League, though it did require a VAR check to chalk off Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s second half effort.

The visit of champions Liverpool this Sunday will give a truer picture of where Villa stand but they could hardly have started the season better.

Having made 11 changes for last Thursday’s Carabao Cup win at Bristol City, Smith reverted back to the team which started the 1-0 win over Sheffield United seven days previously.

That meant Betrand Traore had to settle for a place on the bench despite his goalscoring debut at Ashton Gate.

Young midfielder Jacob Ramsey was also among the substitutes, though Frederic Guilbert, Jota and Henri Lansbury were again absent, as was Anwar El Ghazi, the Dutch winger watching proceedings from the Craven Cottage Main Stand.

The opening 15 minutes saw Fulham hog 75 per cent possession but when Villa did have the ball they made it count.

Grealish’s opener came after determined work by Matty Cash on the right flank to win the ball and find John McGinn. From there the Scot lofted a through pass into the path of the skipper, darting toward goal, who fired a first-time finish under the advancing Alphonse Areola.

Villa might have doubled their lead within 60 seconds had McGinn’s cross been a little better directed toward Trezeguet, after Fulham’s defence was opened up again.

Instead the second goal arrived on the quarter-hour mark. Watkins found Grealish, who burst into the box before firing a low cross to McGinn, whose deft lay-off was fired first-time inside the far post by Hourihane, the Republic of Ireland international making no mistake with the direction of the shot despite using his less favoured right foot.

Fulham were finding plenty of space down the flanks but their delivery into the box was poor and on the one occasion in the opening period when Joe Bryan did pick out Aleksander Mitrovic, the Serbian placed his header wide of the near post.

Villa’s biggest danger appeared to be complacency. Grealish was guilty of a high risk pass across the face of his own goal but though Ivan Cavaleiro was alert to pounce on it, his next move was to hit a shot well over the bar.

Smith would have felt his team should have sown up the points by the break and had Watkins had his shooting boots on they might.

But the club record signing fired over after being sent scampering away down the left by a delightful Grealish pass and then couldn’t direct a Hourihane cross on target moments before half-time.

With the state of Fulham’s defending, Smith need not have worried. Within three minutes of the restart Villa had their third.

Dennis Odoi brought down Grealish on the left as Villa threatened to break and when Hourihane swung in the free-kick, Mings was all alone to prod the ball beyond Areola. He was so alone, Fulham’s defenders seemed convinced they would be saved by a VAR reversal for offside. No such luck.

Areola prevented Villa extending their lead soon after when he denied McGinn with his legs.

Yet it was the visitors who then had a lucky escape, when Cordova-Reid appeared to have pulled a goal back.

The Fulham man stabbed home from close range after Emiliano Martinez had spilled Aboubakar Kamara’s shot at his feet, only for the goal to be chalked off when referee Attwell, having consulted his video monitor, ruled Mitrovic had fouled Ezri Konsa in the build-up.

Still, the hosts were starting to exert some pressure and Villa had another let-off when Mitrovic steered a header just wide of the post.

Cash was then in the right place at the right time to clear Andre-Frank Anguissa’s shot off the line.

The Villa right-back then almost turned provider with a cross which Grealish volleyed just over the bar, before Martinez preserved his clean sheet with a fine stop to deny Bryan in stoppage time.

Teams

Fulham (3-4-3): Areola, Odoi, Hector (Le Marchand 58), Ream, Tete (Kamara 39), Cairney, Anguissa, Bryan, Cavaleiro, Mitrovic, Cordova-Reid (Kebano 78) Subs not used: Knockaert, Onomah, Robinson, Rodak (gk).

Villa (4-3-3): Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett, McGinn, Luiz (Nakamba 87), Hourihane (Ramsey 76), Trezeguet (Traore 84), Watkins, Grealish Subs not used: Elmohamady, Hause, Davis, Steer (gk).