Super Eagles stars Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey featured in Fulham’s 3-1 home defeat to Aston Villa, as the visitors overturned an early deficit in a thrilling Premier League encounter on Sunday. Both players, fresh from international duty with Nigeria, played the full 90 minutes, but Fulham’s lead slipped away in dramatic fashion.
Fulham began brightly, taking the lead through a long ball from goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
His clearance found Raul Jimenez, who outmuscled Pau Torres to gain control and coolly finished into the bottom corner of the net for his fourth league goal of the season.
The goal sent the home fans into raptures as Fulham looked set to continue their strong form at Craven Cottage.
However, Aston Villa responded swiftly.
A speculative long-range shot from Jacob Ramsey took a heavy deflection off Calvin Bassey, completely wrong-footing Leno and bringing the visitors level.
The unfortunate own goal came just minutes after Fulham had taken the lead, shifting the momentum in Villa’s favor.
Fulham had a golden opportunity to regain the lead when Matty Cash’s handball resulted in a penalty.
However, Andreas Pereira’s weak effort was easily saved by Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, allowing the visitors to stay in the contest.
This miss proved costly as Villa capitalized on their next chance to go ahead.
In the 59th minute, Ollie Watkins found the back of the net with a perfectly placed header from a corner.
Rising above the Fulham defense, Watkins directed the ball into the roof of the net, giving Leno no chance and putting Villa in the lead for the first time in the match.
Things went from bad to worse for Fulham when defender Joachim Andersen was shown a red card for bringing down Watkins as the last man.
Reduced to 10 men, Fulham’s hopes of mounting a comeback were all but extinguished.
Aston Villa took full advantage, adding a third goal just minutes later when Issa Diop inadvertently turned a Lucas Digne cross into his own net, sealing the victory for the visitors.
Despite the home side’s efforts to rally late on, Villa comfortably saw out the match, extending their unbeaten run and dealing Fulham a significant blow.
The result means Aston Villa maintains their impressive away form, while Fulham will be left to reflect on missed opportunities and a second-half collapse.
As the Premier League season unfolds, both Iwobi and Bassey will be looking to help Fulham recover from this setback as they prepare for their next challenge.
For Villa, the victory keeps their momentum rolling as they continue to climb the league table.
