Aston Villa 1-1 Fulham: A rare Suzuki error gives the Cottagers a deserved point

Premier League,
9th round

Aston Villa
AST

Fulham
FULL

Villa park

Samuel Barrett

John McGinn 16′ (Pen)
Nicolas Jackson 39′

Sion Suzuki 64′ (OG)

“Aston Villa” goalkeeper Sion Suzuki made an unusual mistake and “Fulham” drew 1:1 at Villa Park.

Villa still go into the top half with a point, but will be disappointed with their performance after failing to pick up their first Premier League win of the season over Manchester City last week.

Fulham were the better side for long periods as they responded well to their EFL Cup exit at the hands of Crystal Palace, marking a difficult end to a disappointing week for relegation Villa, who crashed out of the cup with a 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth.

After a bright start, Villa were given the opportunity to open the scoring when Sander Berge palmed away Leon Gortezka’s corner. Villa awarded a penalty after the referee was sent to the monitor on the edge of the pitch by VAR.

However, Villa captain John McGinn blew his lines and fired his spot-kick onto the crossbar.

Oscar Bobb was a harbinger of what was to come from Fulham in the second half as he was denied by a fine save from Suzuki, but Villa took the lead with six minutes of normal time remaining in the first half.

Nicolas Jackson continued his rich vein of form as a poor Fulham defense saw their goals thwarted by the hosts’ counter-attacks, with the Senegalese forward somehow beating two challenges before slotting into the bottom-right corner.

More work from Suzuki saw Villa go into the break as he stole possession from Josh King after the teenage midfielder had scored.

Alvaro Arbeloa’s men continued to dominate after the break, Gonzalo Garcia unwillingly deflecting Shea Charles’ close-range shot over the crossbar before Suzuki showed more heroics to keep out Alex Iwobi’s free-kick.

However, all Suzuki’s work was undone as he decided to train to take a corner from Iwobi on the run towards goal, curling the ball over the line to give the Cottagers a deserved level.

Villa finished the game the stronger and Pau Torres could have taken all three points with a late finish, but Fulham were good value for a point as Unai Emery’s men missed the chance to build momentum and move into the top seven.

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