• Date: Sun 03 February 2008
  • Venue: Craven Cottage
  • Ref: Foy, C
  • Attendance: 24,760
Fulham

Fulham

Davies (73)

Bullard (86)

2 - 1

Fulham vs Aston Villa

Team Lineups

Fulham

Antti Niemi
Brede Hangeland
Paul Konchesky
Aaron Hughes
Chris Baird
Leon Andreasen
Danny Murphy
Simon Davies
Jimmy Bullard
Clint Dempsey (Diomansy Kamara, 79)
Erik Nevland (Brian McBride, 70)

Aston Villa

Scott Carson
Martin Laursen
Olof Mellberg
Wilfred Bouma (Craig Gardner, 87)
Curtis Davies (Isaiah Osbourne, 90)
Gareth Barry
Nigel Reo-Coker
Shaun Maloney
Stiliyan Petrov
John Carew
Gabriel Agbonlahor (Marlon Harewood, 46)


Live Text Commentary
Full time
 

And the final whistle goes! Fulham complete the proverbrial great escape and take their first win since November and under new boss Roy Hodgson.

90
Substitution
 

Isaiah Osbourne replaces Curtis Davies.

90
Yellow Card
 

Simon Davies has been booked for unsporting behaviour.

90

There will be three minutes of stoppage time to be played.

89

The home crowd are bouncing as they sense a crucial victory is nearly upon them.

86
Goal
 

Jimmy Bullard scores! He hit a great free-kick from long range, the ball sailed over the wall and left Carson motionless as the ball flew into the net.

85
Yellow Card
 

Curtis Davies is booked for a foul on Diomansy Kamara.

83

The final ten minutes are going to be a tense affair, however, Fulham, at the moment, look more likely to score than Villa.

79
Substitution
 

Diomansy Kamara replaces Clint Dempsey.

77

Brede Hangeland has a great chance to score, but he drills his close range effort straight at Scott Carson.

77

Villa will be very unhappy that they held the lead for such a short amount of time, whereas Fulham will feel that they can take all 3 points.

75

And the game has improved in tempo ten-fold, as the crowd and players all suddenly seem much more interested in the game.

72
Goal
 

Simon Davies scores! Bullard crossed in the ball, and Davies simply helped the ball on and into the net.

71

Martin Laursen should have scored, the ball fell to him only a couple of yards out from goal, but he hammers it over the bar.

70
Substitution
 

Brian McBride replaces Erik Nevland.

68
Goal
 

Villa have scored! Mellberg backheels the ball towards goal, and it appears to take a deflection off Aaron Hughes before going in.

67

The home crowd are trying to jeer up their team, but Fulham are still failing to produce note-worthy chances.

63
Yellow Card
 

Wilfred Bouma is booked for a foul on Clint Dempsey.

62

Erik Nevland clears Shaun Maloney's header on goal, and Villa are certainly on top at the moment, is this perhaps down to the introduction of Harewood?

58

Villa have come out the better in the second half, and as a result, Fulham are beginning to defend deeper and deeper, a dangerous game to be playing.

54

With Young out through suspension and Agbonlahor out injured, the attacking prowress of Villa seems to be diminishing, which will no doubt be great news to Fulham.

51

Villa produce a good move, but Harewood's ball to Petrov just lacks the quality, and Fulham get away with the ball.

48

That could be a huge blow for Agbonlahor, who would have had a great chance to play for England come Wednesday.

45
Substitution
 

Marlon Harewood has replaced Gabriel Agbonlahor, who came off at half-time with what seems to be a hamstring injury.

Second half
 

The second half begins, and both sides will be looking to create more guilt-edged chances when they dominate possession, something they were unable to do in the first 45.

Half time
 

The whistle goes, and after 45 minutes, both teams go into the break without creating many chances of note, however Shaun Maloney has played very well for Villa.

45

There will just be the single minute of stoppage time to be added.

42

Only a few minutes until the break, and bar an exceptional piece of play, it lookd like it will be goal-less going into half-time.

39

Shaun Maloney produces a cross come shot, and with Agbonlahor and Carew ready to pounce, Fulham somehow clear the ball.

35

The shot from Carew deflects to Shaun Maloney, but he tries to chip the keeper, and the effort goes safely over the bar.

34

Almost ten minutes to go, and the fans are unstandably quiet at the moment as the game fails to produce exciting football.

31

Shaun Maloney has a great chance for Villa, but he cant keep the effort down and that was a waste of good play.

30

Carew heads on a long ball, but Gabriel Agbonlahor is just unable to get on the end of it as Villa look to put some pressure on the Fulham goal.

26

Fulham are starting to fight back as they begin to pin Villa back in their own half with some good play, but there's still a lack of chances in the game so far.

23

The game has gone into a bit of a lull as both teams struggle to show attacking intent in their play.

19

Villa are just edging out Fulham in terms of possession, however, in terms of chances, both sides are on par.

15

Shaun Maloney has a long range effort on goal, but the ball us deflected out for a corner, which is hit harmlessly over the heads of everyone in the box.

12

Wilfred Bouma clears the ball from underneath the bar from a Demspey header, and that was a good chance for the home side.

10

Shaun Maloney supplies a great ball to Gabriel Agbonlahor, but his cross into the box is caught comfortably.

7

Clint Dempsey tries his luck from range, but the effort goes safely wide, and its a very open start from both sides so far.

4

Shaun Maloney delivers a good corner ball, but the danger is cleared by Fulham.

2

Bullard hits a great free-kick from a dangerous position, but it deflects of a defender and goes off for a corner.

Kickoff
 

Chris Foy is the referee in charge at Craven Cottage this afternoon, and Villa will be favourites going into this game against a Fulham side in very shakey form.

Awaiting Kickoff
 

Ashley Young misses his first league game of the season through suspension as Villa start with: Carson, Mellberg, Laursen, Davies, Bouma, Petrov, Barry, Reo-Coker, Maloney, Agbonlahor, Carew

Awaiting Kickoff
 

New signing Erik Nevland starts for Fulham, however, other new signings Litmanen & Stalteri are unavailable as Fulham kick-off with: Niemi, Baird, Hughes, Andreasen, Hangeland, Konchesky, Bullard, Davies, Murphy, Dempsey, Nevland