By
Michael Emons
BBC Sport journalist
- Published6 minutes ago
This match was the eighth and final one on a busy Saturday of Premier League action. It featured thrills and spills and nearly had a dramatic finish.
Aston Villa defender Pau Torres twice had chances to snatch a late winner but failed to hit the target with close-range headers on both occasions.
After four games of this Premier League campaign, both of these teams were in the bottom three with one draw and three losses, and this draw maintains their recent resurgences.
Villa have now won three and drawn two of their five league matches since, whileFulhamhave picked up seven of a possible nine points in their past three games.
Nicolas Jackson has had a fine October, with his goal following one in the 2-2 draw againstBrentford, two in the 6-0 Champions League win over Fenerbahce and a double in the 2-1 win overManchester City.
This encounter took place on Saturday evening rather than Sunday afternoon because Villa play in the Champions League at La Liga leaders Barcelona on Tuesday.
Some sides would be distracted by such a prospect, but Unai Emery's Villa started brightly, with Leon Goretzka heading one chance over.
His next header resulted in the penalty after Sander Berge raised his arm.
The penalty was the first awarded to Villa in the Premier League since April 2025 against Manchester City, having not received one last season. Surprisingly, Jackson did not take it, and instead it was John McGinn who took responsibility, only to hit the woodwork.
Zion Suzuki, who joined Villa in a £30m deal from Parma in August, had performed well until his error made it 1-1.
He did make a crucial save later on to deny Antonee Robinson as the game ended in a draw.
Sunday marks four years to the day since Emery began work as Villa head coach.
The team sat three points above the relegation zone on 1 November, 2022.
Since then, Villa have finished seventh, fourth, sixth and fourth and made the Conference League semi-finals in 2023-24, the Champions League quarter-finals in 2024-25, before winning their first European trophy since 1982 with success in the Europa League last season.
Villa's attentions will quickly move on to their glamour tie at the Nou Camp, with Emery looking to secure their fourth Champions League victory in a row.
