Fulham boosted their hopes of European qualification as Ryan Sessegnon’s first-half goal earned them a 1-0 win over a lacklustre Aston Villa at Craven Cottage.
It was only a second win in six Premier League games for Marco Silva’s side, whose inconsistency may yet put a top-seven finish beyond their reach, but in glorious conditions and backed by a vociferous crowd, they showed the heights they are capable of reaching.
They struck late in the first half. Emiliano Martinez’s quick reflexes kept out Sasa Lukic’s header, but Villa were slow to clock the threat of the lurking Sessegnon who fired between the legs of Ezri Konsa on the goal line.
Villa were complicit in their own downfall, and were poor throughout. Not since their eight-game winning run ended in late December have they won back-to-back matches in the league and that sequence continued in west London, though they still have a healthy advantage in the race for a Champions League place.
They threatened Bernd Leno’s goal only twice in the first half, through Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins, and barely at all after that.
Perhaps there was one eye being kept on Thursday’s Europa League semi-final first leg against Nottingham Forest, and a raft of late changes by Unai Emery suggested so. They will need to be much, much better to keep their European dream alive.
