Football Apr 29, 2026

Fulham 1-0 Aston Villa: Ryan Sessegnon scores Cottagers' first goal in three games to raise European hopes

👤
By Admin
Sports Journalist
Fulham 1-0 Aston Villa: Ryan Sessegnon scores Cottagers' first goal in three games to raise European hopes

Fulham ground out a first win - and goal - in three games to move level with the final European spot in the early weekend standings with a narrow 1-0 victory over Aston Villa.

Homegrown hero Ryan Sessegnon's composed finish after Sasa Lukic's header was palmed into his path settled a tie of few clear-cut chances at Craven Cottage.

"Four more games left and hopefully we can achieve it," the matchwinner told TNT Sports after the game. "Three more points closer to our target. We have to keep going - it's not over yet."

It was Villa who had arrived in west London hoping to further cement their Champions League qualification hopes and leapfrog Man Utd into third - but they lacked any kind of cutting edge and instead could be overtaken by fifth-place Liverpool later on Saturday.

Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers both put first-half efforts narrowly wide, but not until Tammy Abraham's glaring 84th-minute miss did they fashion another chance of real quality, despite controlling possession throughout the second period.

The visitors had been happy to cede possession and territory to Fulham at first and frustrated their hosts well, but lacked the bite or fluidity to hurt them on the break until Rogers and Watkins' efforts suggested things may be beginning to click.

Instead, Fulham finally found their own finishing boots to score for the first time since March 21 after Castagne was allowed to stride forward and cross from the right flank, with Jimenez's diving header saved by Emiliano Martinez and Sessegnon alive to guide home the rebound.

Villa emerged a different side, playing 10 yards further up the pitch but still without the clinical touch required, and were almost punished again when Timothy Castagne nodded home Sasa Lukic's corner, only for Sander Berge to be penalised for a foul on Martinez.

It left the door open for Villa to rescue a deserved point and they should have levelled when substitute Abraham, the hero a week earlier against Sunderland, danced beyond Andersen before shanking an effort over with the goal at his mercy - to leave Fulham dreaming of a repeat of their run to the Europa League final 16 years ago.

Fulham boss Marco Silva to TNT Sports:

A great win for us. A massive three points. We knew before the match it was like a must-win game for us if you want to keep competing for something special until the end of the season and keep us around the places for European competition.

"To keep them with zero goals in a game, with the capacity they have, I'm very pleased. We kept them very quiet."

Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery to TNT Sports:

"We have lost a really good opportunity, the players did everything we were planning but we needed to be more clinical.

"The match was pretty even - sometimes for us sometimes for them. We created a few chances to score, it was very difficult. They have good players and coach and to beat teams like Fulham is for us something we must work on because that can happen."

Tags:

football report

Share this article

Related Posts

WSL2: Crystal Palace and Birmingham promoted to the WSL while Charlton will feature in play-off

WSL2: Crystal Palace and Birmingham promoted to the WSL while Charlton will feature in play-off

Crystal Palace and Birmingham have been promoted to the WSL, while Charlton will feature in the first promotion/relegation play-off for a place in Eng...

EFL play-offs 2026: Schedule, fixtures and Wembley finals for Championship, League One and League Two

EFL play-offs 2026: Schedule, fixtures and Wembley finals for Championship, League One and League Two

The EFL have confirmed the dates for the 2025/26 Sky Bet Championship, League One and League Two play-offs.All three divisions' regular seasons will c...

Liverpool transfer news: Arne Slot's Reds weighing up summer swoop for PSG's Bradley Barcola - Paper Talk

Liverpool transfer news: Arne Slot's Reds weighing up summer swoop for PSG's Bradley Barcola - Paper Talk

The top stories and transfer rumours from Saturday's newspapers...Liverpool are reportedly weighing up a summer swoop for Bradley Barcola and could po...

Bristol City 2-0 Stoke City: Roy Hodgson ends Robins tenure with a win

Bristol City 2-0 Stoke City: Roy Hodgson ends Robins tenure with a win

Goals from Delano Burgzorg and substitute Sam Bell saw Roy Hodgson end his short spell as Bristol City interim head coach with a 2-0 Championship vict...

Derby County 1-2 Sheffield United: Blades come from behind to end the Rams' play-off hopes

Derby County 1-2 Sheffield United: Blades come from behind to end the Rams' play-off hopes

Sheffield United staged a second-half comeback to win 2-1 at Pride Park and end Derby County's Sky Bet Championship play-off hopes.Derby were in contr...

Piero Hincapie, William Saliba and Gabriel personify Arsenal's warrior spirit as battle against fatigue continues in trophy hunt

Piero Hincapie, William Saliba and Gabriel personify Arsenal's warrior spirit as battle against fatigue continues in trophy hunt

Diego Simeone's tactical changes helped Atletico Madrid wrestle back control against Arsenal at the Metropolitano Stadium. His switch to a back five a...