Player ratings: Fulham 1-3 Aston Villa

Fulham fell to a first home defeat of a season against Unai Emery’s Champions League side in a thoroughly frustrating affair. A missed penalty, a soft red card and an own goal all in the same game, I mean, talk about a capitulation. While the Whites competed well at times, they were overrun in midfield over and over again and often lacked a real cutting edge in the final third. Goodison Park awaits next weekend, offering Fulham a chance to bounce back from defeat at a ground where they’ve found frequent success in the post-pandemic era.

Bernd Leno

It’s always difficult assessing the performance of a goalkeeper when you think they’ve played well in a defeat where your side has conceded multiple times and, had it not been for a Morgan Rogers shocker, could have conceded more. Ultimately though, Leno was very good here. His long ball to set up Raul’s goal was the crowning moment in a game where his distribution was often at the forefront of our counter-attacking play. A save from Watkins at 1-1 when the English international looked certain to score was supremely impressive and one of a number of saves that kept Fulham in it at times. 7.5/10.

Kenny Tete

Just solid from Tete really. Didn’t do anything spectacularly well, didn’t do anything spectacularly badly. Showed less attacking intent than normal but that’s understandable considering most of our attacking play came down the other side of the pitch. When he did get forward, he was effective, with his single cross being responsible for winning Fulham’s penalty after Raul headed it onto a Villa hand in the box. 6/10.

Joachim Andersen

The Dane did actively try to get Fulham out of trouble by producing long balls to escape the Villa press, and more often than not Andersen proved the most calming presence in our backline in possession. Off the ball, however, he struggled to track Ollie Watkins. It was Andersen who lost Watkins in the penalty area in the first half when Leno made a huge save to keep the game level. Then in the second half came the pivotal moment in the game, when Watkins got the run on Andersen and, regardless of how soft the challenge was, Andersen gave the referee a decision to make, leaving his side playing with ten for the best part of half an hour. 5.5/10.

Calvin Bassey

Started the game with a terrible piece of luck, with Morgan Rogers’ strike from outside the box deflecting off the Nigerian and agonisingly past Leno to level the scores. Bassey settled into the tie after that and looked really positive on the ball, progressing the ball well. After Andersen’s sending off, the defence looked unsettled, understandably, and Bassey was a part of that, whilst not doing anything catastrophic, he did look less confident on and off the ball. 6/10.

Antonee Robinson

We lacked an attacking threat on the left hand side going forward against Villa and that was hugely down to a more subdued performance than normal by Robinson. Very rarely did he look to perform his trademark overlapping run down the left wing, leaving us lacking a big attacking outlet. No key passes, no dribbles, no shots on target, never fouled and just one accurate cross speaks volumes as to how little the full back bombed forward. Defensively solid, but a quiet day overall. 6/10.

Sander Berge

A huge opportunity to stake a claim in the first XI for a decent stint of games after the injury to Lukic during the international break. Unfortunately, you’d have to say Berge failed his audition. Onana, in the holding role for Villa, showed everything you’d want in that position in terms of ball retention and recoveries, as well as a sense of authority in the midfield. Berge did the opposite, being run through at will, looking weak both on and off the ball. His three fouls were the most from a Fulham player and the sign of a midfielder that was off the pace and would rather fling a lazy leg out than make a committed, well-timed challenge. If he starts at Goodison, it can only be through circumstance and availability rather than merit. 3.5/10.

Andreas Pereira

You thought that critique of Berge was scathing? That’s nothing compared to the criticism that should be aimed here at Andreas Pereira. Admittedly, booing the midfielder off the park might have been a tad harsh from our fans, but it’s a sign of the frustration in the ground that we are having to watch a player constantly start every week despite bad performance after bad performance. His missed penalty was just the tip of the iceberg, a lazy, powerless pass into Martinez’s arms. Beyond that, his passes were useless, floaty and constantly missing their intended target when the opportunity to create was constantly available to him. His pass accuracy was the lowest of any midfielder by a country mile and bar one corner, his crosses created nothing. Something has to change. 3/10.

Emile Smith Rowe

And finally, Smith Rowe, the third of three underperforming midfielders. Admittedly, it may be more system related as to why a whole midfield looks so unbalanced and gets shown up so badly by a competently run team. However, to see your club record signing track back so infrequently whilst also doing nothing in the final third is beyond irritating. I still believe Smith Rowe will grow into this team with the talent he possesses, but to not even challenge the Villa defence with that talent at his disposal, not once, is not good enough. 3.5/10.

Adama Traore

Hard to judge because his lack of involvement in the game seemed completely tactical with so much of the play going centrally or towards the left when we attacked. A strange decision really, considering the pace advantage Adama would have obviously had over the ageing Lucas Digne at full back. Of his nine passes in the whole game, three were half decent crosses, showing his ability to make something from nothing, even if it didn’t result in any goalscoring opportunities. 6/10.

Alex Iwobi

For me, this was one of Iwobi’s better performances this season. Whether it be his dribbling ability, crossing or pressing, everything just seemed to happen with more purpose and authority from Iwobi in this game. Had Smith Rowe and Robinson offered further outlets on the left hand side, it’s plausible to think Iwobi’s impact on the game could have been even greater. His positional discipline in the final stages of the game, moving more centrally, showed how important that part of the role is, considering the struggles Pereira and Smith Rowe have had in bringing balance to that area of the pitch in recent weeks. 7/10.

Raul Jimenez

Comfortably the best player on the pitch for me, for either side. Considering how isolated he ended up being at times up front, his running of the channels and hold up play was outstanding. He gave both Villa centre backs a horrible time and that was evidenced most in the opening minutes when he comfortably nudged his defender off the ball and struck a left footed half volley into the bottom corner to give us the lead. Whilst he would have been frustrated not to have added a second, a header from a corner going narrowly wide, it certainly didn’t take away from what was a superb all-round performance from a striker finding superb form in the Premier League. 8/10 – Man of the match.

Substitutes

Issa Diop (68’ for Andreas Pereira)

Genuinely incredibly impressive to score a kamikaze own goal within 60 seconds of coming onto the pitch when his chat from Marco before coming on surely included notes on calming things down and not doing anything silly. After three good performances to open the season, this is the Diop clanger we’d been waiting for. 5/10.

Reiss Nelson (68’ for Adama Traore)

Seemed to be bought on out of possession in a 4-4-1 after the red card. Normally you’d expect Nelson and Smith Rowe to be on the right and left, rather than the opposite way round as they were for the final part of the game. That, on top of the struggles Fulham had attacking with ten men, meant Nelson struggled to influence the game. 6/10.

Tom Cairney and Harry Wilson (81’ for Emile Smith Rowe and Sander Berge) subbed on too late in the game to be fairly assessed.