Aston Villa 1-1 Fulham: a Missed Penalty, a Jackson Opener, and a Goalkeeper's Own Goal off a Corner Settle It at Villa Park
Villa had the lead and the chances to bury it. Fulham had the better of the second half and got their point in the strangest way — their equaliser dropped out of the home goalkeeper's hands and over his own line.
Aston Villa were held to a 1-1 draw by Fulham at Villa Park on Saturday, missing a penalty early and conceding the equaliser to a goalkeeping own goal just after the hour, according to match reports read by this desk.
Villa were handed the first opening when a VAR review penalised Sander Berge for handball, but captain John McGinn crashed his spot-kick against the woodwork. The hosts made their pressure count shortly before half-time instead: Johan Manzambi set up Nicolas Jackson, who swept home to give Villa a 1-0 lead at the break.
Fulham were the better side after it — 55 percent possession, five shots on target to Villa's three and an expected-goals edge of 2.21 to 1.71, per Sports Mole's report — and their equaliser arrived in the 64th minute in freak fashion, when Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki spilled Alex Iwobi's inswinging corner over his own line. Pau Torres sent a late header inches wide as Villa chased a winner that never came. The point moves Villa up to ninth and Fulham to 15th, and it ends Fulham's seven-game losing run at Villa Park, where they last won in 2014. 'We can beat anyone,' Fulham head coach Alvaro Arbeloa said afterwards, per Sports Mole.
