Aston Villa 1–0 Fulham Player Ratings: The Villans Edge past Fulham in a Close Premier League Contest

The Villa Park kicks off the weekend action of the Premier League, where Aston Villa welcomes Fulham in a Saturday afternoon match on 3rd May 2025. The match was pretty much end-to-end action, but it only had one goal in the game that was scored by Youri Tielemans.

A quick play-from-the-back almost caught Fulham off guard in the 3rd minute. The final ball just could not reach Watkins, who was waiting to show the ball direction into the net for the first goal.

The 11th minute of the match saw the first goal from a John McGinn corner, which met the header of Tielemans. Even though the header was attempted to be stopped by Leno, it had too much pace. 1-0, Game on!

After the goal, Fulham tried their best to get one back, but the overhaul in midfield from Unai Emery’s side stopped Fulham from making any promising chances. The game went back on forth with no highlights till the 44th minute, where Tielemans almost scored the 2nd goal from a long-range shot.

After the completion of the first half, it was 1-0. The 2nd half started with more intent from Villa as they almost doubled their goal tally with Cash’s ball in the box, which was missed by Watkins. 49th minute of the game saw Fulham equalize from a Ryan Sessegnon but the goal was disallowed because of a handball.

In the 62nd minute, Watkins had a chance to double the lead as he was 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper, but his shot was saved by Leno. In the 78th minute, Malen had a chance to double the lead as well, but the Dutchman missed his chance.

Shortly after coming into the game, Reed had to go off due to an injury blow. Fulham had to play with 10 men since then. The game went back and forth till the normal 90 minutes. After that, 8 additional minutes were added. But nothing came of it.

Here are the Aston Villa vs Fulham Player Ratings.

Aston Villa Player Ratings

GK- Emiliano Martinez- 5.5/10

Dibu spent the totality of the first half relaxing in his goal post and cheering his team for performing exceptionally, especially his defenders, who made sure the last line of defense had a relaxing first half.

LB- Ian Maatsen- 5/10

Maatsen was the defensive back who spent more time attacking than defending. While on one occasion, his presence was missed when the Fulham wingers were 3 on 2 with the Villa defenders, for the majority of the game, the center backs dealt with the challenges thrown by Fulham forwards.

CB- Pau Torres- 4.5/10

Pau Torres lacked the pace to make his recovery runs when the Fulham wingers were on the run to bother the Villa defense. The Spaniard was caught off guard multiple times, and the worst part of it was that he could not make the recoveries he was expected to make.

CB- Ezri Konsa- 5/10

Konsa showed his frustration to the referee after the official missed the challenge that came from the Fulham forwards when the center back was on his defensive duties. While he held the fort rather well in the first half, it seemed as if the defender was not willing to let go of an inch.

RB- Matty Cash- 5/10

While both of the defensive backs were given the freedom to go forward and give the extra man on the wing for their team, Matty Cash spent the majority of the time in his half. It was especially the case after his team secured the 1-0 lead.

CM- Boubacar Kamara- 5/10

Kamara held the fort down well while his partner Youri Tielemans had the green light to go forward. Made sure none of their attacks got converted into promising counterattacks in the first half. Was instrumental in Villa’s early dominance in the midfield.

CM- Youri Tielemans- 6/10

Tielemans, on multiple occasions, tried his luck to find Watkins in a great position with overhead balls, but the midfielder failed to do so. As the game went by, he opened up the score with a stunning header from a corner delivered by John McGinn.

CAM- Marco Asensio- 5/10

Asensio had a half chance to give his team an early lead, but the ball was on his right foot, and even though the Spaniard wrapped his foot on the ball well with his shot, the shot was blocked by the Fulham defender. Made sure his team dominated possession of the ball, especially in the first half.

LM- John McGinn- 5.5/10

Aston Villa’s dearest, John McGinn, had a great game today. He bagged up the assist for the first goal of Villa with a stunning delivery within the box that found Tielemans. As usual, he was instrumental in holding down the midfield line and dominating the center of the pitch with his teammates from early on.

RM- Morgan Rogers- 5/10

Morgan was a joy to watch in today’s game. He found himself surrounded by multiple Fulham players in his half whenever he had the ball, but he escaped the challenges and marking well throughout the game and kick-started counterattacks multiple times.

ST- Ollie Watkins- 5.5/10

Almost scored the first goal on multiple occasions in the early minutes. Watkins’s best chance in the first half came from a short play for the corner that followed with a cross which found him on the box, but the forward did not have much pace or direction on the header.

Sub- Amadou Onana- 4/10

In the 58th minute, Onana came to replace John McGinn. After the substitution of the Aston Villa captain, the armband went to the goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez.

Sub- Jacob Ramsey-4/10

Jacob came along with Onana in the 58th minute as Emery wanted some fresh legs in the match. Asensio was subbed off to give Ramsey some valuable minutes.

Sub- Lucas Digne- 4/10

Lucas came on in the 70th minute when Villa had control of the game. The idea with the substitution was to introduce a couple more fresh legs on the pitch.

Sub- Donyell Malen-4/10

Unai Emery wanted to take off Watkins to preserve his legs for the next fixture. This is why Malen came onto the match in the 70th minute. In the 78th minute, Malen had a chance to double the lead, but the Dutchman missed his chance.

Sub- Ross Barkley- 4/10

Barkley came onto the game in the 83rd minute as Tielemans, the goal scorer, was taken off the game. The idea for him was to see off the game from there.

Manager- Unai Emery- 5/10

Emery was very active in the match today. The Spaniard did not shy away from showing his emotions whenever his team made a mistake. He was very animated today.

Fulham Player Ratings

GK- Bernd Leno- 5/10

Bernd was the busier goalkeeper between the two this afternoon. While the Fulham goalkeeper tried his best to stop the first goal, the header was just too powerful for the keeper. Nevertheless, he saved his team from conceding the next goal on multiple occasions.

LB- Antonee Robinson- 5/10

An early challenge on Asensio almost got Robinson booked with a yellow, but the referee thought it was too early for a booking. While he was seen on the attacking front today, after his team conceded the first goal, he was kept on his defensive duties.

CB- Calvin Bassey- 5/10

Bassey showed a strong defensive presence today, giving all kinds of trouble to Matty Cash and Morgan Rogers. However, it seemed as though the center back forgot to be strong during the corner, which led to the first goal. He was booked with a yellow card in the 58th minute.

CB- Joachim Andersen- 4.5/10

Andersen was no better in the first half than his center-back partner, Calvin Bassey. There was practically no marking during the corner that saw the first goal. Moreover, looking at his previous performances, the defender seemed to have less authority on the back line today.

RB- Kenny Tete- 5.5/10

In a rare game today, Kenny Tete was the better defensive back on his team. While he performed his defensive duties well, he was equally effective while going forward. In the early minutes, he delivered a stunning pass that should have been converted by the Fulham forwards. He was booked with a yellow card in the 51st minute.

CM- Saša Lukić- 5.5/10

Lukic was arguably the best player of the average Fulham in the first half. Won the ball multiple times, tracked back deeper to give depth to the defense line, and was eager to kick-start start attack anytime he had the ball.

CM- Sander Berge- 4/10

A below-average performance from the Fulham midfielder. In the totality of the first half, it seemed as if he was not even present in the match. He was nowhere to be seen anytime Fulham had the ball that could launch a potential attack.

CAM- Harry Wilson- 4.5/10

Harry Wilson had a tough game today as he was seen struggling after taking a blow. The attacking midfielder was not in his element today, due to which we did not see much being created from the center of the pitch today, especially in the first half. Had a chance to score one back, but had barely a connection with the incoming ball.

LM- Alex Iwobi- 4.5/10

Arguably the most influential player of Fulham, Alex had seen fewer balls on his feet compared to the other games where he was the center of most of the build-ups that were converted into a goal. He was pretty much invisible in the first half today.

RM- Ryan Sessegnon- 4.5/10

Ryan did not have a good game either. Similar to Iwobi, he too had fewer balls on his feet. Moreover, he was found guilty of stopping Villa players on multiple occasions. He was booked with a yellow card in the 29th minute for stopping Maatsen illegally. He almost scored the equalizer for his team, but the goal was disallowed due to a handball. He was subbed off in the 56th minute.

ST- Raul Jimenez- 4.5/10

It was rather an optimistic afternoon for Raul Jimenez. The Mexican tried his best to give one back for his team, but it was simply not happening for the Fulham forward. The forward maintained a 0.01 xG throughout the first half.

Sub- Emile Smith Rowe- 4/10

Smith Rowe was introduced to the match by Marco Silva in the 56th minute. Ryan Sessegnon was the player who was subbed off for the introduction.

Sub- Timothy Castagne- 4/10

Timothy Castagne was introduced in the game to take the place of Kenny Tete as the right back picked up a yellow card, and Silva was not willing to wait around for him to pick up another.

Sub- Adama Traore- 4/10

Traore came along with Castagne in the 65th minute to inject some pace into the game. He took the place of Harry Wilson, who struggled throughout the match.

Sub- Harrison Reed- 4/10

Reed came onto the match in the 75th minute to try and change the course of the game. Manager Silva was not ready to take the loss away from home. Shortly after coming into the game, Reed had to go off due to an injury blow. Fulham had to play with 10 men since then.

Sub- Willian- 4.5/10

Willian came onto the match along with Reed in the 75th minute to try and change Fulham’s fortune this evening. He moved the ball well after his introduction in the game.

Manager- Marco Silva- 4/10

Silva was the unhappy manager between the two. The manager was even booked with a yellow for his actions on the touchline.

Sportsdunia Player of the match is Youri Tielemans.