Soccer Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Fulham - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - November 12, 2023 Aston Villa's Leon Bailey in action with Fulham's Antonee Robinson REUTERS/Carl Recine NO USE WITH UNAUTHORIZED AUDIO, VIDEO, DATA, FIXTURE LISTS, CLUB/LEAGUE LOGOS OR 'LIVE' SERVICES. ONLINE IN-MATCH USE LIMITED TO 45 IMAGES, NO VIDEO EMULATION. NO USE IN BETTING, GAMES OR SINGLE CLUB/LEAGUE/PLAYER PUBLICATIONS.
(Reuters) -Aston Villa cruised to a 3-1 win over Fulham thanks to an own goal by Antonee Robinson and strikes from John McGinn and Ollie Watkins in the Premier League on Sunday, matching the club's 40-year-old record of 13 home league victories in a row.
Villa Park is a fortress under Unai Emery and his side, along with Liverpool and Manchester City, are the only teams to win all their home Premier League games this term, with Villa netting at least three goals in every match at their stadium.
Villa took the lead in the 27th minute when Youri Tielemans snapped up a ball down the left wing and fired it across the goal, where Fulham defender Robinson turned it into his own net.
Villa captain McGinn netted the second goal three minutes before the break, picking up the ball outside the box and advancing before banging a low drive into the bottom corner.
Fulham were strong after the break and Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez got a fingertip to the ball to steer a low shot from Raul Jimenez onto the far post, and Willian almost pulled a goal back with a low drive that flew just wide.
Instead Watkins added the third with a close-range finish in the 64th minute as Villa again sliced open the visiting defence.
Fulham striker Jimenez then netted his first league goal since March 2022 to reduce the deficit but the away side came no closer, and Watkins should have made it 4-1 but somehow steered a late close-range header wide with the goal at his mercy.
The win leaves Villa in fifth place on 25 points, while the Cottagers are 16th with 12, though Emery is not getting carried away with his side's position in the table nor their home form.
"We are in the top five and I think this is a moment to enjoy and to analyse deeply, even when we are winning, how we can improve," he told reporters before paying tribute to McGinn.
"He (McGinn) is very demanding, he is competitive, he is always ready to play. Physically his energy is always full, when he's not training he's resting ... he's a very good example to other players and I really appreciate him as a person."
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; editing by Clare Fallon, Toby Davis and Ken Ferris)
