Aston Villa fight back to beat Fulham and end wait for first Premier League win | OneFootball

Aston Villa came from a goal down to beat Fulham 3-1 at Villa Park as they picked up their first Premier League victory of the season.

Goalscoring has been the problem for Villa this term, having gone into the game with just one league goal to their name, but that issue was put to bed in emphatic fashion on Sunday.

Villa got their season up and running with a Europa League win over Bologna in midweek and backed it up with their first domestic triumph to cap off a successful few days for Unai Emery.

Fulham had put themselves on course for a fourth straight victory in all competitions when Raul Jimenez nodded in an early header, but the hosts showed great character to level as Ollie Watkins ended his goal drought with his first of the season.

Spirited Villa put Fulham to the sword with two quickfire goals after the interval. John McGinn was the matchwinner on Thursday and stood up when it was needed again to put his side in front before Emi Buendia’s strike made the points safe.

The win lifted Emery’s side out of the bottom three and they will be hoping it proves a turning point in their season.

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Ollie Watkins ended his goal drought against Fulham (Getty Images)

But the hosts got off to the worst possible start when the visitors hit the front with three minutes on the clock.

Fulham won an early corner and Sasa Lukic whipped a ball on to the head of Jimenez, who glanced his finish inside the near post to silence an already nervous Villa Park.

Villa responded, though, Harvey Elliott, on his full league debut for the club, connecting with a cross at the far post but seeing his effort stabbed behind by Ryan Sessegnon.

The home side ought to have been level in the 18th minute after Calvin Bassey gifted McGinn possession inside the area, but the Villa skipper was unable to finish.

However, Villa did find the equaliser eight minutes before the break.

Watkins beat the offside trap as he latched on to a long ball over the top from Lucas Digne before lifting his finish over the onrushing Bernd Leno and into the net.

At the other end Emiliano Martínez was forced into a save to stop Fulham retaking the lead, keeping out a header from the lively Josh King.

Villa Park erupted as the hosts turned the game on its head with two goals in 104 seconds after the restart.

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Aston Villa scored two goals in 104 seconds to flip the game on its head (Getty Images)

First Adama Traore was caught in possession and McGinn picked up the ball and arrowed a pinpoint strike into the bottom left-hand corner.

The fans had barely finished celebrating before Watkins turned provider, setting up Buendia to poke home.

In a chaotic few minutes Fulham almost reduced the deficit to one a minute later.

Martinez’s mistake allowed the ball to be fed to Lukic, but the keeper was rescued by a heroic goal-line clearance from Ezri Konsa as Villa finally got their campaign up and running.