Aston Villa recorded back-to-back wins at Craven Cottage for the first time as they sweep aside Fulham.
Raul Jimenez opened the scoring for Fulham with a lovely finish from a hopeful long ball from Bernd Leno.
Villa equalised minutes later when Morgan Rodgers continued his excellent start to the season with his deflected effort finding the bottom corner.
Ollie Watkins had several chances throughout the game, and he finally got his goal from a Villa set piece.
Joachim Andersen picked up a straight red for a foul on Watkins, and with Issa Diop putting the ball in his own net minutes later, Fulham were out of the game.
Jaden Philogene levelled the playing field, but Fulham didn’t have time to get back into the game.
This win puts fourth place Aston Villa one point behind Liverpool at the top of the league.
Story of the match
Fulham were forced to make a change from their impressive performance away at the champions with Sasa Lukic picking up an injury on international duty with Emile Smith Rowe replacing him.
Timothy Castagne also picked up an injury on international duty with him set to be out for a month.
Aston Villa made three changes from the draw with Man United. Amadou Onana and Jacob Ramsey came back into the side after some time out injured, and Ezri Konsa was only fit enough for the bench, with Diego Carlos as his replacement.
Fulham opened the scoring when Bernd Leno’s clearance downfield bounced in behind the Aston Villa defence. Fulham’s inform striker Raul Jimenez used his strength to brush off Pau Torres, slotting the ball past a helpless Emi Martinez.
Aston Villa equalised shortly after Morgan Rogers picked up the ball in midfield, driving through the Fulham defence with his effort on goal deflecting off of Calvin Bassey into the bottom corner.
The visitors should have taken the lead through Ollie Watkins, with Youri Tielemans playing him through on goal with a brilliant pass, but Bernd Leno in the Fulham goal denied the England international.
Fulham’s appeals for a penalty turned into a penalty after a VAR check after Jiminez’s header connected with Matty Cash’s outstretched arm. Penalty expert Martinez keeps the score level as he saves Andreas Pereira’s weak penalty.
Both sides have struggled to keep possession in the middle of the pitch, making it an entertaining end-to-end game.
Watkins picked up the ball on the left-hand side, breaking past Kenny Tete. Then, he whipped a gorgeous ball into Rodgers, who should have given the Villans the lead with his volley flying over the crossbar.
Joachim Andersen almost put the ball into his own net, but his keeper made a great reaction save to bail him out.
Leno makes another save from Ramsey’s powerful effort, but the keeper can only push it to a corner.
From the corner, set-piece experts Villa take the lead with Tielemans's ball, perfect for Watkins to run onto and power the header home.
Aston Villa break away, with Rodger’s ball splitting the Fulham defence. Watkins is put in behind Andersen, who brings him down, and the Fulham defender is given his marching orders.
The game was put to bed when the away side made it three when Issa Diop turned a Lucas Digne cross into his own net just after coming on.
Aston Villa picked up their own red card when Jaden Philogene picked up two yellow cards, but it was too late in the game for Fulham to make anything of it.
Player of the match - Morgan Rogers
When Villa conceded the opening goal, it looked like the away side's day could be long, but Rodgers made sure they walked away with all three points.
He took his goal extremely well, running with the ball and taking his shot when the defence kept backing off. The deflection was fortunate, but he deserved the luck.
The midfielder was comfortable on the ball, causing Fulham all kinds of problems with his ball in behind, which earned Andersen a red card.
