Fulham 1-0 Aston Villa: Premier League – as it happened

Key events3h agoFULL TIME! Fulham 1-0 Villa (Sessegnon 43)3h agoDisallowed goal!4h agoHALF-TIME! Fulham 1-0 Villa4h agoGOAL! Fulham 1-0 Villa (Sessegnon 42)5h agoTeams in full6h agoTeams in brief: no Onana for Villa6h agoTeams in brief: three changes for Fulham, Iwobi out6h agoPreambleTim de LisleSat 25 Apr 2026 10.01 EDTFirst published on Sat 25 Apr 2026 06.15 EDTShareShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureKey events3h agoFULL TIME! Fulham 1-0 Villa (Sessegnon 43)3h agoDisallowed goal!4h agoHALF-TIME! Fulham 1-0 Villa4h agoGOAL! Fulham 1-0 Villa (Sessegnon 42)5h agoTeams in full6h agoTeams in brief: no Onana for Villa6h agoTeams in brief: three changes for Fulham, Iwobi out6h agoPreambleShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this feature2h ago09.59 EDTTime for me to make a cup of tea. Thanks for your company, correspondence and views on Thomas Tuchel’s sunglasses. It’s been a pleasure covering a game in which, at the ninth attempt, Fulham finally inflicted defeat on Unai Emery. Hell, they even scored in the first half.

Ben Bloom has just filed his match report, which is here. If you’re after a little more action, Barry Glendenning is keeping a close eye on the 3 o’clock games.

Updated at 10.01 EDT2h ago09.53 EDTMarco Silva has come out to join the commentators. “Great win for us,” he says. “Massive three points. It was a must-win game for us, if you want to keep competing for something special … against a very good side, always difficult to control. I’m pleased, very pleased with the first half. Second half, less time on the ball, but we kept them quiet.”

3h ago09.39 EDT“Rochdale vs York,” says Alan Fisher, “is where the action is!” He’s not wrong. The battle of the giants in the National League has ended in a draw, thanks to a goal from York in the 103rd minute – which means that York are promoted to League Two. More here from Barry Glendenning.

Updated at 09.42 EDT3h ago09.36 EDTThat was Villa’s tenth defeat in the league. It’s been one of the oddities of this season that only four PL teams have been hard to beat. Two of them we might have expected – Arsenal and Man City, with five defeats apiece. The other two, not so much: Man United and Bournemouth, both on seven.

Updated at 09.44 EDT3h ago09.30 EDTA twist in the tale of this season’s Women’s Super League. Man City, as Emillia Hawkins reports, have lost at Brighton.

3h ago09.28 EDTThe Player of the Match, Joachim Andersen, is talking to TNT. “Our plan worked to perfection,” he says. “We are in a good place now.”

3h ago09.26 EDTVilla were only at their fluent best for the odd minute here and there. They stay fourth with 58 points from 34 games. They’ll only overtake Man United if Brentford score nine at Old Trafford on Monday night, and they will slip below Liverpool at teatime unless Palace can get a point at Anfield. But Villa still have an eight-point cushion separating them from Brighton, who are sixth.

3h ago09.23 EDTFULL TIME! Fulham 1-0 Villa (Sessegnon 43)And that’s it! A big win for Fulham, fully deserved as they worked their socks off, got six shots on target and scored a stylish goal.

Updated at 09.28 EDT3h ago09.21 EDT90+4 min Wilson threatens to break down the right, Digne goes into the book and another minute goes by.

Updated at 09.20 EDT3h ago09.18 EDT90+1 min Only four minutes of added time for Villa to salvage this. Wilson gets a booking for something.

3h ago09.18 EDT89 min The Player of the Match, picked by Lucy Ward, is Joachim Andersen. Interesting choice – he’s been good at the day job but when he went up for a corner, he got a Fulham goal disqualified by being too blatant with his attempt to block Martinez.

3h ago09.16 EDT88 min Leno sends a goal kick long into a clear blue sky. It yields two or three half-chances as Bobb, again, fails to make full use of a fine position.

3h ago09.14 EDT85 min Another wild shot from Villa – Digne this time, outside the box. The shot count has been even, 11-10 to Fulham, but Villa have landed only one of theirs on target, to Fulham’s five. Now Bobb bustles into the box and makes it six, though he can’t muster any power.

3h ago09.10 EDT82 min Chance to Villa! Three neat passes through the middle and Abraham, making space beautifully, just lifts his shot too high.

Updated at 09.15 EDT3h ago09.09 EDT82 min Another sub for either side: Robinson for Sessegnon, who may have bagged the winner, and Abraham for Watkins, who may have ended up not quite impressing Thomas Tuchel.

3h ago09.07 EDT80 min Villa go smoothly from one end to the other. Douglas Luiz plays a perpendicular ball to Rogers, who finds Sancho on the left. He cuts in and tees up Luiz, who is just too slow making up his mind whether to shoot.

3h ago09.05 EDT78 min One of the few midfielders who haven’t just come on, Lukic, wins the ball well in the centre circle. Sessegnon, sent away down the left, skews his shot into the crowd.

3h ago09.04 EDT76 min Silva follows suit, in a smaller way – sending on Bobb and King for Smith Rowe and Chukwueze, who may be in with a shout for Player of the Match.

3h ago09.02 EDT75 min Here come the cavalry. Emery sends on two midfielders (Douglas Luiz and Barkley) and two wingers (Sancho and Bailey). McGinn, Tielemans, Bogarde and Buendia make way. So Watkins and Rogers stay on and Abraham has to bide his time.

3h ago09.00 EDT72 min Wasted opportunity for Fulham! Chukwueze nicks the ball 30 yards out and opts to play in Muniz, who can’t sort his feet out.

3h ago08.58 EDT70 min It’s a surprise to find the team who only play at weekends making a sub before the team that will spend their next two Thursdays playing a European semi-final. What has Emery got up his sleeve? There’s talk of a job lot, and I can see Douglas Luiz raring to go.

3h ago08.55 EDT66 min The first substitution comes from Marco Silva: it’s Muniz for Jimenez at the tip of the arrow.

3h ago08.54 EDT66 min If Fulham can hang onto their slender lead, they will be up to tenth, joining Chelsea and Brentford in a west-London huddle on 48 points. Villa will stay fourth unless Liverpool beat Palace, in which case Villa will slip to fifth on goal difference.

3h ago08.52 EDT62 min Better from Fulham as Smith Rowe advances into the box, but his shot is a feeble thing.

3h ago08.49 EDT60 min As the hour glass flips over, Villa are having their best spell since that pair of chances in the first half.

3h ago08.48 EDT59 min Chance! For Watkins, who races onto a through ball, only to sky it.

Updated at 08.58 EDT3h ago08.45 EDT56 min Chukwueze, who’s been bright, almost plays a great ball through to Wilson, but Martinez is wise to it.

4h ago08.43 EDT54 min Villa piece together their first good move of the half and third of the match. McGinn sends a fine ball over to the left, but Rogers can’t deliver the cross.

4h ago08.40 EDT51 min Bassey hits a long ball straight out of play. The Villa fans muster some jeers, but the Fulham fans won’t mind that.

4h ago08.37 EDT50 min The second yellow card of the day goes to Pau Torres, for getting too close to Jimenez. The free kick is easily seen off.

4h ago08.36 EDT49 min As it stands, Fulham are level on points with Chelsea. These two neighbours have taken very different routes to the same place.

4h ago08.35 EDT48 min Chance for Wilson! With three defenders on him, he could square to Jimenez but prefers to hit a shot, which is scuffed past the post.

4h ago08.34 EDT46 min Villa kick off and go all the way back to Martinez. There’s a scrap in the middle of the park and Castagne brings down Buendia, earning a yellow card in the process.

4h ago08.24 EDTTime to open the post. “Tommy Too Cool is in the stands watching on in some fancy looking sunglasses,” says Justin Kavanagh. “Either his future’s so bright he has to wear shades, or else he’s practicing for a life of forced anonymity after this summer’s World Cup.”

“Hi Tim,” says Paul in Brazil, picking up on my aside about blocking. “You sound like you could be the man for this book, could also be an audio sleep aid.” Nice backhand! “Wondering what new rules FIFA/Fafa will have in the World Cup. Just to make it more exciting...”

4h ago08.20 EDTHALF-TIME! Fulham 1-0 VillaCraven Cottage erupted when the goal went in, and although Villa look ready to bounce back, there’s only a minute of added time. So Fulham lead at the break, and it’s not often you can say that. They deserve it, for their enterprise, pressing and new-found accuracy: they’ve had five shots on target to Villa’s one. Villa were only really themselves for three minutes, when Rogers and Watkins both came close. But they’re good at scoring late on and Unai Emery will be telling them can still win this.

Updated at 08.29 EDT4h ago08.16 EDT44 min It was a fine, flowing move that was all about the full-backs. Castagne advanced into the inside-right zone, ignored the man outside him and sent in an excellent cross. The header from Lukic was sharp enough for Martinez to parry rather than gather it in. The ball fell kindly to Sessegnon, near the penalty spot, and he drove it into the corner.

Updated at 08.23 EDT4h ago08.13 EDTGOAL! Fulham 1-0 Villa (Sessegnon 42)They’ve done it! They’ve scored in the first half!

Updated at 08.21 EDT4h ago08.12 EDT41 min Fulham shine on both wings in the same move. Jimenez races down the right and hooks a cross over his shoulder. There’s nobody in the box, so it reaches Smith Rowe on the left. He sends a lovely little through ball to someone whose cross is, guess what, blocked.

4h ago08.09 EDT39 min Wilson’s free kick is blocked, but Fulham come again and Sessegnon, in behind, volleys a cross … that can’t quite reach Jimenez.

4h ago08.09 EDT37 min Fulham, fired up, storm into the D, where Wilson is fouled. McGinn, willing as ever, plays the draft excluder – that’s proper captaincy.