Sessegnon strike gives Fulham victory over Villa | OneFootball

Fulham continued their fight for European football with a hard-fought victory at home to Aston Villa.

At times Unai Emery was jumping all around his technical area as he saw his team fail to take their opportunities.

Indeed, Villa had two great chances in just a few minutes midway through the first half, first from Morgan Rogers and then shortly after Ollie Watkins showed great centre-forward play to outmuscle his marker but fizzed an effort just wide.

Shortly before the break, Fulham took the lead. Timothy Castagne whipped in a ball from the right that Sasa Lukic met with a header. That effort was palmed but only as far as the onrushing Ryan Sessegnon who made it 1-0.

The home side felt like they should have a second midway through the second half when Castagne headed in from a corner. However, the goal was disallowed due to Sander Berge and Emiliano Martínez having a minor tussle in the build up.

By the letter of the law it was the correct decision but it was exactly the kind of of thing we see at almost every set-piece this season.,

Villa got away with one there but they looked like they ran out of steam late on as they tried to find a leveller. Substitute Tammy Abraham almost got one when he showed great skill to escape his defender but fired his shot over.

That result means Fulham are up to 10th and look like they have a great shot for European football next season. Villa meanwhile remain fourth but may drop down to fifth later today should Liverpool defeat Crystal Palace.

Incidents: The story of the match

Fulham Official Line-ups:

Bernd Leno, Timothy Castagne, Calvin Bassey, Joachim Andersen, Ryan Sessègnon, Emile Smith Rowe, Sasa Lukic, Sander Berge, Harry Wilson, Samuel Chukwueze, Raúl Jiménez

Aston Villa Official Line-ups:

Emiliano Martínez, Matty Cash, Pau Torres, Ezri Konsa, Lamare Bogarde, Lucas Digne, Emiliano Buendía, Youri Tielemans, John McGinn, Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers

1':

The match begins

Fulham takes the lead 1-0 with Ryan Sessegnon scoring from the center of the box with a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner.

43':

GOAL Fulham: Ryan Sessègnon (Fulham) scores!

Ryan Sessègnon scores goal number 3 in the competition (27 matches)

998':

The referee whistles for the end of the match