John Townley's Aston Villa player ratings after 1-0 Fulham defeat

Ryan Sessegnon's late first half goal was all that separated the sides at Craven Cottage.

The defeat means Villa are now winless in five away Premier League matches, last winning on the road in the competition three months ago against Newcastle at St. James’ Park.

There was little goalmouth action in the first half hour of the contest, with Emi Martinez making basic stops to deny Sasa Lukic and Pau Torres clearing a ball intended for Raul Jimenez early on.

Morgan Rogers came closest to scoring for Villa in the first half, flashing the ball wide of the post from inside the box after cutting in from the left.

John McGinn hooked a lovely ball over the top of Fulham’s back line, allowing Rogers to sprint into space and create a shooting opportunity.

Moments later, Ollie Watkins fired the ball wide of the far post from an angle after being played in by Matty Cash.

Having received the ball with his back to goal, Watkins held off Joachim Andersen before spinning to create a yard of space and striking the ball across goal, but his effort went inches wide.

Fulham then took the lead before the break, with Sessegnon firing into the corner past Ezri Konsa on the line after Martinez initially saved Lukic’s close-range header.

The Cottagers could have doubled their advantage shortly after the restart, as Lucas Digne was dispossessed by Harry Wilson, but the winger dragged his effort wide with only Martinez to beat.

Watkins was presented with a chance to equalise on the hour mark after Torres punched the ball into McGinn’s feet, before the Scot cleverly found Watkins running into the box, but the striker couldn’t keep his effort down.

Minutes later, Fulham thought they extended their advantage when Timothy Castagne headed in at the back post from Lukic's corner, but referee Michael Oliver blew up on a foul on Martinez, who was being held by Sander Berge.

In the 75th minute, Emery made a host of alterations, perhaps with Thursday's Europa League semi-final first leg against Nottingham Forest in mind, as Jadon Sancho, Leon Bailey, Ross Barkley and Douglas Luiz replaced Buendia, McGinn, Bogarde and Tielemans.

After Tammy Abraham replaced Watkins in the 81st minute, it wasn't long before he had the chance to level. He beat Andersen with silky skill to gain entry into the box, but his finish was a poor one, as he lifted it high and wide.

Martinez made a few routine saves before doing well to deny Lukic, but was eventually beaten on the rebound by Sessegnon’s drive. 6

Cash clipped the ball to Watkins, playing a bit more direct to get Villa’s striker into a position to make something happen after an otherwise dull 35 minutes for both sides. He didn’t get back into position quickly enough to challenge Lukic’s header after trying to win the ball back earlier in the move. 5

Konsa held the line well on a few occasions alongside Torres. He couldn’t adjust his feet quickly enough to block Sessegnon’s close-range finish. 6

Torres was booked early in the second half for taking a Fulham player down after Buendia gave the ball away. He pinged the ball into McGinn’s feet, which led to Watkins’ chance in the 60th minute. 6

Digne lost out to Wilson just after the restart, leading to a big chance for the Welshman to double Fulham’s lead, but he dragged his effort wide. 5

The 22-year-old came into the double pivot this afternoon as Amadou Onana felt some "small pain" on Friday. Bogarde had enough time to get goal side of Lukic before his header was saved by Martinez, with Sessegnon following in on the rebound. 5

Youri Tielemans

Tielemans was tidy on the ball as ever and had no problem taking possession under pressure. He progressed play well too, but Emery took him off in the 75th minute to save him for Thursday night. 6

McGinn hooked a lovely ball over the top of Fulham’s backline to set Rogers on his way in behind, but he just missed the target. He created another opening when he found Watkins’ run off the shoulder, but the forward blazed over. 6

Rogers operated in a central role this afternoon, close to Watkins. His first attempt at goal flew well off target after he collected the ball from McGinn before trying his luck from range with his left foot. Didn't offer enough for the quality he possesses. 5

Buendia returned to the starting line-up today, playing mainly from the left side. He lost possession cheaply on a couple of occasions, with one just after the break putting teammate Torres into trouble. 5

Watkins was lively in the opening stages, helping Buendia get a shot off and then firing at Bernd Leno himself. He came close to breaking the deadlock around 10 minutes before the break, backing into Andersen before finding space to shoot towards the near post, but he missed the target. He also fired over in the 60th minute after latching onto McGinn’s pass into the box. 5

Douglas Luiz (for Tielemans, 75'): Luiz helped Villa take control in the final quarter of an hour. 6

Ross Barkley (for Bogarde, 75'): Barkley would have wanted more time to on the pitch as he won't feature against Forest on Thursday. 6

Leon Bailey (for McGinn, 75'): Bailey did little to impact the game. 5

Jadon Sancho (for Buendia, 75'): Much better performance from off the bench by Sancho. 6

Tammy Abraham (for Watkins, 81'): Abraham worked a chance for himself, beating Andersen, but failing to hit the target with his finish. Good impact for the limited time he had. 6

Subs not used: Bizot, Lindelof, Mings, Maatsen.

Fulham: Sessegnon (43'):

Aston Villa: N/A

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