Fulham 3 Aston Villa 1 - Report

Two defeats, six goals conceded and the loss, barring a successful appeal, of top scorer Jonathan Kodjia for the remainder of the season had Villa and their manager Steve Bruce glad to see the back of this particular Easter.

Kodjia's red card for a kick on Fulham right-back Ryan Fredericks means he appears destined to remain, just like Christian Benteke four seasons before him, stuck on 19 league goals.

Analysis

Peter Withe might be a Villa legend and a very nice man, yet there are those who might wonder whether some kind of curse was laid when he became the club's last striker to bag 20 during the 1980-81 title-winning campaign.

Villa were already trailing to Ryan Sessegnon's opener by the time Kodjia was dismissed by referee David Coote just 22 minutes into the game and any assessment of their performance demands those factors are taken into account.

And in many ways, this was a better display than the one which saw them beaten 3-1 by Reading on Saturday.

They even drew level, early in the second half, thanks to a goal of the season contender from Jack Grealish.

But Fulham, the division's top scorers, always looked capable of picking Villa's defensive lock and with a man extra it was barely a fair fight.

Sone Aluko restored the lead before substitute Neeskens Kebano sealed a win which keeps the Cottagers right in the thick of the play-off hunt.

For Villa, there is now next Sunday's derby with their relegation-threatened neighbours Blues, a game in which supporters will demand a far better display than either over the Easter weekend.

Bruce had already made clear his intention to make changes for what was Villa's second game in just 48 hours.

In the end there were five of them and also a switch in formation, with Tommy Elphick joining James Chester and Nathan Baker in a back three.

James Bree also returned to the starting line-up along with Gary Gardner and Grealish, the latter making his first start since Valentine's Day.

Scott Hogan meanwhile partnered Kodjia up front with Alan Hutton, Henri Lansbury, Conor Hourihane, Leandro Bacuna and Albert Adomah all dropping to the bench.

Villa saw plenty of the ball during the opening ten minutes but were already given warning of Fulham's threat by two crosses from left-back Scott Malone which flashed across the face of goal without any home player managing to get a touch.

Soon enough the chances began to arrive. Aluko wriggled through the visiting defence and unleashed a shot which Sam Johnstone was able to palm away.

Yet just 30 seconds later the Villa keeper was beaten. Fredericks crossed from the right and though Sessegnon's initial volley clattered into the bar, the rebound fell straight back to him and his second attempt was forced home despite the best efforts of Baker to block it on the line.

It already appeared an uphill struggle for Villa and Malone whipped in another dangerous cross which was again missed by several of his team-mates in the box.

Soon after the visitors task took on Everest proportions as Kodjia was given his marching orders. The striker reacted angrily to what appeared to be a kick out from Fredericks after tangling with the right-back, launching a kick of his own into the Fulham player's mid-riff as he lay on the ground.

Referee Coote consulted with the fourth official before producing the red card which will, barring a successful appeal, rule Villa's top scorer out of the last three games of the campaign.

To Villa's credit, they responded to the set-back in positive fashion and Fulham rarely looked like extending their lead before the break.

Indeed, Villa might even have been level had Fredericks not been in the right place to block Elphick's goalbound header from a corner. Gardner also saw a shot deflected wide of the target.

In stoppage time, Tim Ream really should have given the hosts extra breathing room but pulled his shot wide of the post after Villa had failed to clear a corner.

It was a missed chance which will have preyed on the centre-backs mind even more when, five minutes into the second half, Grealish pulled the ten men level with a sublime strike.

The 21-year-old rounded off a sustained spell of Villa possession by cutting in from the left wing and curling a perfectly placed shot beyond Bettinelli and into the top corner.

Fulham looked, understandably, more than a little stunned and things could have even got worse soon after had Chester been able to get a clear sight of goal when Grealish's free-kick fell for him in the box.

In truth, their wobble lasted only six minutes before Aluko restored the lead. Floyd Ayite exchanged passes with Sessegnon before advancing to the byline and delivering a cross which Aluko volleyed home thanks to a deflection off the luckless Baker.

Only a key block from Bree prevented Aluko from adding his second and providing Fulham with breathing space.

They eventually found it with 11 minutes remaining as Kebano added the third, driving a low shot across Johnstone and inside the far post.

Teams

Fulham (4-2-3-1): Bettinelli, Fredericks, Ream, Kalas, Malone (Kebano 55), McDonald, Johansen, Aluko (Piazon 86), Cairney ©, Sessegnon, Ayite Subs not used: Parker, Cyriac, Madl, Sigurdsson, Button (gk).

Villa (3-5-2): Johnstone, Elphick, Chester (c), Baker, Bree (Hutton 70), Gardner, Jedinak, Grealish, Amavi (Hepburn-Murphy 77), Kodjia, Hogan (Hourihane 81) Subs not used: Lansbury, Bacuna, Adomah, Bunn (gk).