Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery admits his side must up its goalscoring game at the business end of the season, as they crashed to defeat at Fulham.
Ryan Sessegnon was the match winner in a game where both Ollie Watkins and Tammy Abraham looked out of sorts – as England manager Thomas Tuchel looked on.
It was not the best preparation for their Europa League semi final against Nottingham Forest on Thursday, and their miserable day was compounded with the news that Amadou Onana had a knee injury.
While the midfielder is already a doubt for their next game, Emery was more focused on making his Villa side take their chances.
He said ‘We had four chances in ninety minutes, but we weren’t clinical. We must continue working, and practice, and how to score one goal.
‘Today we didn’t shoot when we were in good positions, and especially against Nottingham Forest a couple of weeks ago the same chances fell for Ollie.
Ryan Sessegnon scored the only goal of the game as Fulham beat Aston Villa
Unai Emery booted the advertising boards in frustration and Villa missed some big chances
‘It’s difficult to win matches in the Premier League. But today we should have scored a minimum of two goals.
‘We couldn’t dominate because they were going man to man with us. We conceded one goal.’
It was a strangely flat performance by Villa against a Fulham side looking more likely to have success in the Craven Cottage sunshine.
Even so, Morgan Rogers and Watkins put chances wide in a matter of minutes, that could have put a different slant on the result.
The goal that proved to be the match winner came with just two minutes of the half remaining.
A cross by Timothy Castagne found the head of Sasa Lukic who forced Emilano Martinez to palm away. Sessegnon was on-hand to pounce on the rebound for his third of the campaign, marking a week where his contract was extended.
While Villa needed a response in the second half, it could have got much worse for them just two minutes after the restart, when Harry Wilson put an effort just wide.
Abraham came on as sub but managed to put his effort well over with his first touch of the contest, on 83 minutes, which seemed to sum up the day of Villa.
Fulham celebrated their second win in ten outings, and head coach Marco Silva praised his side.
He said ‘We knew before the match that it would be a crucial game, if you want to be in the race for something important, against teams fighting for their European places.
‘It’s not usual seeing teams like Villa not scoring or losing games. At their level they have been very consistent, that is why they’ve had a great season.
‘It was a great first half, I was really pleased. We were solid, and we were very brave in the first half.
‘Back to back clean sheets is crucial for us, and it was a massive win. I congratulate the players, they should be proud.
‘I’m demanding and I want this club to go as far as it can go. I’m pushing everybody forward.’
