Aston Villa 1-1 Fulham: Suzuki own goal sees Cottagers unbeaten run continue

Fulham bounced back from a half-time deficit to pick up a valuable 1-1 draw away at Aston Villa.

The Cottagers trailed at the break after Johan Manzambi and Nicolas Jackson combined to put the home side a goal in front, and it looked as though Villa would continue their excellent run of form.

But, a howling error from Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki saw the Japanese goalkeeper drop the ball in his own net as Alex Iwobi’s corner proved to be too much.

Fulham came to Villa Park off the back of two successive wins in the Premier League and eight points in the last five matches.

But it looked as though it would be tough for the Cottagers to walk away with anything as they conceded a penalty after 16 minutes.

Leon Goretzka’s header was handled by Sander Berge and after a VAR decision, a penalty was awarded.

But John McGinn, so normally reliable for Villa, missed from the spot, striking the crossbar to ensure that Berge went away unpunished for his misdemeanour.

Fulham had their big chance when the scores were still level, with Oscar Bobb, scorer of a brilliant goal to beat Coventry a week ago, denied by Suzuki with an excellent first-half save.

Jackson, who had come to Villa from Chelsea via Bayern Munich, has been in some form, and the Senegalese striker was presented with a big opportunity.

Manzambi, a player who had been so impressive during the World Cup for Switzerland, placed a pass in Jackson’s path, and the Senegalese made no mistake.

Running through some abject defending from David Affengruber and Timothy Castagne, Jackson placed home past Bernd Leno to give Villa a 1-0 lead at half-time.

It was the first time Fulham had conceded in the first half of a Premier League game since Tyrick Mitchell’s goal for Crystal Palace on September 5.

In the second half, there was once again bad luck for Gonzalo Garcia, who was denied by Suzuki, and whose solitary Premier League goal came in August,

Eventually though, Suzuki, who had been on such good form for Villa, made a catastrophic blunder when Iwobi’s corner came into the box, fumbling it into the back of his own net.

With Coventry winning, but Manchester United, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and Sunderland losing, Fulham retained their spot in 15th in the table, taking their tally to nine points from their last six matches.

It was not long ago that there was significant pressure on Alvaro Arbeloa, but the Spaniard seems to have hit back on that pressure and Fulham head into their clash with Newcastle with confidence to gain more points.