Villa edge past Fulham to return to top four

Ollie Watkins scored a brace as Aston Villa edged past Fulham with a 2-1 win at Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon.

In the early moments, Villa appeared to take the lead within the first two minutes as Ollie Watkins netted a finish from a brilliant Youri Tielemans pass. However, the joy was short-lived as the offside flag disallowed the goal.

Fulham, too, had a goal disallowed shortly after, with Tim Ream's effort ruled out for offside following a flicked free kick by Joao Palhinha.

Villa didn't have to wait long to break the deadlock, though, as Watkins cleverly capitalised on poor defending from Fulham after Ramsey's setup midway the first half.

Leon Bailey came agonizingly close to doubling Villa's lead, hitting the crossbar with a long-range effort. 

The visitors thought they had scored again later in the first half through Alex Moreno's header, only for it to be disallowed for offside upon review.

In the 56th minute, Unai Emery's men did secure their second goal, with Watkins finishing excellently after receiving a pass from Tielemans.

The hosts pulled one back in the 63rd minute, with Rodrigo Munoz tapping in at the near post following an outstanding cross from Antonee Robinson.

Marco Silva's men had chances through Harry Wilson's clever volley from a Pereira free kick narrowly missed the target, and Adama Traore's late attempt was thwarted by Emiliano Martinez in stoppage time, but Villa held on and secured a crucial three points in the race for next season's Champions League qualification.

The win propelled Unai Emery's side back into fourth place in the Premier League standings, after Tottenham suffered a 2-1 defeat to Wolves.