Source: SKY_Sports
Fulham v Aston Villa live!
90+2 It's all over here at Craven Cottage. 3-1 to Fulham is the final score and an excellent display from Hodgson's troops. Villa really have come off the rails recently.[LNB]90+1 Late chance for Zamora from Schwarzer's long kick, but Friedel stands tall and blocks his shot.[LNB]90 Two minutes of added time will be played. Fulham are on course for a deserved three points after an excellent display, although Villa should take some credit for their contribution to an end-to-end game.[LNB]88 Fulham's final change as Etuhu hobbles off and Olivier Dacourt joins the action.[LNB]87 Ashley Young works a yard of space out on the flank and fires over a cross which is straight down Schwarzer's throat.[LNB]86 Heskey picks up the ball midway into the Fulham half, but fails to find a team-mate and Gray gets an early first touch to clear.[LNB]85 Another change for the Cottagers as Dempsey leaves the field to warm applause and Julian Gray enters the fray.[LNB]83 First change for Fulham, with Zamora replacing the hard-working Nevland.[LNB]82 Fulham's play has become a little sloppy and they gift the ball to Petrov, but he cannot make anything of the opportunity. The home side need to switch back on to avoid being caught out in the closing stages.[LNB]81 Ashley Young fires over a corner which evades Schwarzer. Villa continue to press and Davies sneaks in at the far post from Milner's cross but his header down is deflected wide by Heskey, who should have done better from close range.[LNB]80 Pantsil is the next to slip, with Carew seizing the ball and firing in a shot, which Schwarzer gathers right under his crossbar.[LNB]79 Kamara tries to find Gera as his bursts towards the byline, but the Hungarian loses his footing at the crucial moment.[LNB]78 Dempsey puts Pantsil under some pressure with a questionable cross-field ball, but the defender is calm and finds Schwarzer to lash down field.[LNB]75 Davies slips as he chases back with Kamara, but Fulham are unable to capitalise with Dickson Etuhu's floated ball into the box a long way away from anyone in a white shirt.[LNB]73 Milner completely wastes a free-kick and the opportunity to put some pressure on Fulham as his effort is over-hit and easy for Schwarzer to gather.[LNB]71 The Villa sub then gives the ball away to Gera, who shoots from distance only to see his effort curl wide of Friedel's goal.[LNB]70 Reo-Coker is quickly involved as a Fulham clearance from Ashley Young's cross strikes him firmly in the chest and rockets wide.[LNB]67 Carew pressurises Hangeland into conceding a soft corner, Schwarzer punches clear and Barry fires the return over the bar with the goalkeeper stranded.[LNB]66 Barry and Milner drop back to left and right-back respectively. Reo-Coker slots into midfield and Heskey increases Villa's striking options. A bold move, but will it pay off?[LNB]64 In fact, it is a double change. Full-backs Luke Young and Nicky Shorey are replaced by midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker and striker Emile Heskey. This looks like a wholesale formation change.[LNB]63 O'Neill is in deep discussions with his coaching staff on the bench and could be set to make a change.[LNB]60 GOAL!!! From the resulting corner by Murphy, Hangeland wins the ball in the air before Kamara finds the back of the net with an audacious close-range flick. Superb finish.[LNB]59 Dempsey finds Nevland who plays in Gera, but he cannot get away from Davies, who smuggles the ball out for a corner.[LNB]58 Agbonlahor drills in a shot from distance which is always rising over Schwarzer's bar.[LNB]57 Villa attempt to get back on terms as Zat Knight fires a high cross into the box which Schwarzer comes out to gather comfortably.[LNB]55 Gera tries his luck from distance but his shot lacks both power and direction and is watched as it rolls wide by Friedel.[LNB]52 Konchesky steps up and somehow finds a way through the Villa wall, but his shot lacks power and Friedel is able to save with relative ease. Poor defending from the men in front of him, though.[LNB]51 Petrov slides in on Kamara 25 yards from goal in a central position and referee Halsey awards a free-kick. This is a dangerous situation.[LNB]49 O'Neill has made a tactical change at the interval, with Milner and Ashley Young switching flanks. Milner is now on the left and Young on the right.[LNB]48 Kamara is on the attack again, this time opting to roll the ball towards Nevland, but Luke Young steps out of defence to clear.[LNB]46 GOAL!!! Astonishing start from Fulham as Kamara bursts forward to the edge of the box and drills the ball beyond Friedel and into the far corner.[LNB]46 We are back for the second half and Aston Villa get us under way. Neither side have made any changes at the interval.[LNB] Jack Morton has a simple response to the Villa midfield query. Reo-Coker and Sidwell have been injured and Petrov and Barry have been instrumental to the club's success this season. So there you go.[LNB] Villa fan Mick Burton has been in touch and wants to know why Martin O'Neill seems so reticent to use Nigel Reo-Coker and Steve Sidwell in midfield. What do other Villa fans think? Drop me a line at rob.parrish@bskyb.com. Fulham supporters - can your team convert another of the chances they are carving out?[LNB] In the match betting with Sky Bet the draw is in to 7/5, Aston Villa are 9/5 and Fulham are out to 2/1.[LNB]Half-time trivia: The team scoring first in this fixture has never gone on to win in the Premier League era. Can Fulham buck that trend?[LNB]45+1 Villa finish the half with a free-kick from Ashley Young but Aaron Hughes climbs to head clear. Villa continue to attack and think they have won a corner, but referee Halsey blows for half-time. Excellent stuff from both sides[LNB]45 One additional minute will be played at the end of the first half.[LNB]44 This time it is Agbonlahor who flicks on to Carew, who then finds Milner, but his cross is too deep and the move breaks down.[LNB]43 This has been an excellent opening period between two teams committed to playing attacking football and both searching for the victory. Let's hope the second half continues in the same vein.[LNB]40 Villa break forward from a Fulham corner with Agbonlahor running almost the entire length of the field before crossing to the near post where Ashley Young, who now looks happier to still be on the field, firing against the woodwork from close range. Almost a brilliant breakway goal.[LNB]39 Murphy is in the action again, firing over a free-kick which Friedel has to punch, only to send it behind for a corner.[LNB]38 Murphy goes into the book for a cynical challenge on Agbonlahor as he takes the Villa forward out as he looks to break forward from the halfway line.[LNB]37 Young is able to limp to the sidelines before returning to the action, but he is not moving freely.[LNB]36 This is a worry for Villa fans with Ashley Young down receiving treatment after a heavy challenge. The physio is on assessing the damage.[LNB]34 Fulham produce another impressive one-touch move which just breaks down on the edge of the Villa area. Incisive and impressive play from the hosts.[LNB]33 The classy Murphy clips an excellent free-kick into the box where Nevland gets up highest to head powerfully towards goal from 15 yards out, but straight into Friedel's hands.[LNB]32 Fulham win another corner, which reaches Kamara at the far post. He gets a second bite of the cherry after initial poor control and his shot is deflected narrowly wide by Stiliyan Petrov's boot. That could have gone anywhere.[LNB]30 Another excellent save from Friedel as he is forced to dive to his left to gather a powerfully hit shot from Clint Dempsey from outside the area. The American looks to be on top form today.[LNB]29 Milner and Barry combine again on the right with the England Under-21 international firing over a cross which is comfortably claimed by Schwarzer.[LNB]27 From the resulting corner, the ball reaches Zoltan Gera at the far post and he has the time to control before firing in a powerful close-range shot which Friedel does brilliantly to parry away.[LNB]26 Murphy plays a delightful ball over the top to Nevland, who is in behind Curtis Davies and bearing down on goal when the Villa man sticks out a leg and deflects the ball away for a corner. Superb tackle and perfectly timed.[LNB]25 Carew wins the ball in the air again, finding Agbonlahor, who in turn feeds Ashley Young. He is crowded out before Pantsil completes the clearance with a spectacular overhead kick.[LNB]23 Agbonlahor is found by Shorey and he momentarily gets away from Hangeland, only for the defender to get back with a timely tackle. Luke Young then sends a high cross into the box, but Schwarzer comes out to claim.[LNB]21 Milner attempts to get the better of Hangeland towards the byline but the giant centre-back holds him off and Fulham win a goalkick.[LNB]20 Fulham are sticking to their principals with some neat, short, probing passing as they search for an opening in the Villa defence.[LNB]18 Carew is involved again on the edge of the Fulham box, but Gareth Barry is unable to capitalise as the ball is smuggled into the area.[LNB]16 Carew has been causing the Fulham defence a lot of problems already this afternoon. His tussle with compatriot Brede Hangeland is certainly intruiging, but he used his feet rather than his head to help set up the leveller.[LNB]14 GOAL!!! Villa are back on terms out of nothing. Milner and Gareth Barry combine on the right with Carew flicking the cross on with his feet to deceive the home defence and Ashley Young arrives at the far post to beat Schwarzer.[LNB]11 More great football from Fulham as they carve out another goalscoring opportunity. Konchesky gets forward again and cuts into the box where Nevland takes over to lash a shot narrowly over the bar. Villa's defence needs to tighten up.[LNB]9 Villa go back on the attack with another long ball out of defence, but John Pantsil gets back to head behind for a corner, which comes to nothing.[LNB]6 GOAL!!! Murphy makes no mistake to slot home his fifth penalty of the season on his 600th career appearance, with Friedel going the right way but unable to keep out the firmly struck effort. 1-0 to Fulham.[LNB]6 Penalty to Fulham after James Milner barges into the back of Kamara after a slick Fulham passing move opens up the Villa defence. Danny Murphy steps up.[LNB]4 Fulham go on the attack for the first time through Paul Konchesky down the left flank and his cross is turned goalwards by Erik Nevland, forcing Brad Friedel to make his first save of the match. A good chance for the hosts which came out of nothing.[LNB]3 Another half-chance for Agbonlahor as Carew flicks on a long ball out of defence to his strike partner, who is again unable to connect cleanly.[LNB]2 Agbonlahor breaks into the box, but the angle is against him and he rushes the shot, with Schwarzer easily able to collect.[LNB]2 The home side are sloppy with their early play, gifting Villa the ball, but John Carew's flick-on drifts through to Mark Schwarzer.[LNB]1 Fulham get us under way, kicking from left to right in the first half.[LNB] The two teams are making their way onto the turf at a sun-kissed Craven Cottage and kick-off is now only moments away![LNB] If you want to have your say on how you think this afternoon's match will pan out then drop me an email at rob.parrish@bskyb.com. Are Villa over their recent slump? Can Fulham claim seventh and a place in Europe next season? Send me your views (preferably football related!) and I'll publish a selection of the best.[LNB] Aston Villa have proved massively popular in the betting ahead of this one, and Sky Bet have been forced to cut the Villans into 13/8 from an opening show of 2/1 when the markets first opened, but Fulham have a decent home record, having already won 10 times at Craven Cottage this season in the league. In the Goalscorer markets, it is set-piece specialist Danny Murphy who has attracted the most money at 16/1 to open the scoring, while Gareth Barry is proving as popular as ever in the anytime scorer market.[LNB] The referee for this afternoon's clash is Mark Halsey.[LNB] Villa have named an unchanged starting XI from their victory over Hull City on Monday, while Fulham make just one change with Diomansy Kamara preferred to Bobby Zamora, who drops to the bench.[LNB]Aston Villa: Friedel, Luke Young, Knight, Davies, Shorey, Milner, Petrov, Barry, Ashley Young, Carew, Agbonlahor. Subs: Guzan, Sidwell, Delfouneso, Heskey, Reo-Coker, Gardner, Clark.[LNB]Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Gera, Murphy, Etuhu, Dempsey, Kamara, Nevland. Subs: Zuberbuhler, Zamora, Dacourt, Gray, Stoor, Baird, Smalling.[LNB] Good afternoon and welcome to our live commentary from Craven Cottage for this afternoon's Premier League clash between Fulham and Aston Villa. The team news will be with you shortly.[LNB]
