Fulham 3-0 Aston Villa: Cottagers pile pressure on Steven Gerrard

The pressure on Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard further intensified on Thursday night as he saw his side fall to a 2-0 defeat at Fulham.

A fine Harrison Reed strike gave the Cottagers the lead before Douglas Luiz was sent off for pushing his head into Aleksandar Mitrovic. The Serbian then netted a penalty after his volley had been handled by Matty Cash.

A handsome victory for Marco Silva’s side was made even smarted when Tyrone Mings diverted Neeskens Kebano’s cross past Emiliano Martinez.

Villa have now won just one of their last eight Premier League games, slipping down to 17th and only above the relegation zone on goals scored. Fulham, meanwhile, are up to ninth with 15 points.

Hopes were high for Gerrard and the Villans in the summer after they brought in Diego Carlos and Boubacar Kamara on top of the earlier arrival of Philippe Coutinho, but they have been woeful in front of goal.

90min understands Villa have used intermediaries to contact former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino, though the Argentine is holding out for a return to Spurs.

There are no such worries for the future for Fulham manager Silva, who has Mitrovic firing in the top flight and just a second league clean sheet this season.

Fulham Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Leno; Cordova-Reid, Diop, Ream, Robinson; Palhinha, Reed; Kebano, Pereira, Willian; Mitrovic.
Substitutes: Cairney (73′ for Reed), James (73′ for Willian), Carlos Vinicius (85′ for Mitrovic), Wilson (85′ for Kebano), Harris (87′ for Pereira)

Aston Villa Starting XI (4-3-3): Martinez; Konsa, Bednarek, Mings, Young; Ramsey, Luiz, McGinn; Bailey, Ings, Watkins.
Substitutes: Cash (46′ for Bednarek), Buendia (58′ for Bailey), Dendoncker (69′ for Ings), Archer (81′ for Ramsey)