Tyrone Mings keeps Aston Villa on track for Europe with Fulham winner

Aston Villa returned to winning ways against Fulham to extend their unbeaten run to 10 matches and fuel their hopes of staging a spectacular finish to the campaign. Perhaps the biggest compliment to pay Villa is that, while this game did not pan out as comfortable as they would have hoped, they never really looked like conceding, let alone losing.

Quite where Villa’s incredible journey this season goes from here with five games to play remains to be seen but their unexpected and extraordinary gallop towards a top-six finish continues to gather pace. For the first time since September 1998, they have won five straight league games at Villa Park. Fulham’s season, meanwhile, appears to be petering out after so much early promise. Next up? The visit of champions Manchester City. And then a trip to Anfield.

The last time these teams met, in October, Villa succumbed to a 3-0 defeat in what would prove Steven Gerrard’s final game in charge. Tyrone Mings, who opened the scoring here with a clever backward header from a corner, scored an own goal that night. Villa were woeful and their supporters made their anger plain after a loss that left Villa outside the relegation zone only on goals scored. Seven months on the mood around the club could scarcely be more different. Unai Emery has given Villa’s players and staff a shot in the arm and while his methods have hardly been radical he has galvanised a fan base dreaming of European nights for the first time in 13 years.

Fulham gave Villa an early fright in this contest when Andreas Pereira’s acrobatic effort from Harrison Reed’s cross rattled the side netting inside 21 seconds but the hosts slowly asserted their authority. Villa continued to build patiently and Ashley Young saw an