Aston Villa 1-1 Fulham: Nicolas Jackson's goal cancelled out by a Zion Suzuki own goal

Aston Villa led this one and should, by most of the numbers on the day, have won it. Nicolas Jackson put them ahead in the 39th minute, finishing off a Johan Manzambi pass, and Villa carried the better of the possession and the passing all afternoon. None of that mattered in the 64th minute, when the ball ended up in the Villa net off their own goalkeeper, Zion Suzuki, and Fulham had the point they came for.

A draw that feels like two points dropped

Villa finished with less possession than Fulham — 45% to 55% — but still completed a lower share of their passes, 85.9% to the visitors' 88.4%, a reminder that Fulham were content to let Villa have the ball in deeper areas and press when it mattered. Four Fulham players picked up bookings over the course of the match, David Affengruber and Calvin Bassey in the first half, Tom Cairney late on, the kind of accumulation that usually comes with a side working hard to protect a result rather than chase one.

Match facts

• 39' — Nicolas Jackson (Aston Villa), assisted by Johan Manzambi
• 64' — Zion Suzuki, own goal (Fulham)

Line-ups

• Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Suzuki; Torres, Lindelöf, Maatsen, Cash; McGinn, Goretzka, Kamara; Jackson, Manzambi, Alysson
• Fulham (4-2-3-1): Leno; Bassey, Affengruber, Robinson, Castagne; King, Charles, Berge; García, Iwobi, Bobb

A winning run interrupted

This stops Villa's best run of the season in its tracks. They came in having won their last four across all competitions — a Champions League rout of Fenerbahçe, a 1-0 league win at Newcastle, a Champions League win over Viking and, most notably, a 2-1 league win over champions Manchester City the previous weekend. A home draw with a side in the bottom half is the one result that run did not need.

Fulham, for their part, arrived on the back of back-to-back wins of their own, over Hull City and Coventry City, their first winning run of the campaign after a difficult start. A point away at a side playing as well as Villa currently are extends that mini-recovery rather than ending it.

What's next

Villa went into the weekend 9th on 11 points, inside the top half but still with a negative goal difference built on an uneven season. Fulham sat 15th on eight points. Neither position moves much on the back of a single draw, but Villa will feel they let a routine three points slip through a mistake at the other end of the pitch.