Youri Tielemans’ first-half goal saw Aston Villa boost their chances of a Champions League return with a crunch 1-0 victory over Fulham.
Villa, who made the quarter-finals of this season’s competition, are still in the hunt to finish in the Premier League top five which will see them back among Europe’s elite next term.
Tielemans’ 12th-minute header was enough for them to earn a vital three points which extended their unbeaten run at Villa Park to 20 games in all competitions and saw them bounce back from last week’s no-show in the FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace.
They drew level with Nottingham Forest and Chelsea on 60 points and will now sit back and hope their rivals falter over the weekend as the top-five race heads for a climax in the coming weeks.
Defeat for Fulham, who had a goal disallowed for handball, did little for their own European ambitions as they remained in a battle for eighth, which could bring Europa Conference League action.
Villa were quick out of the blocks and took an early lead and that proved decisive.
John McGinn’s inswinging corner was met by Tielemans, whose header was too powerful for Bernd Leno to keep out.
Referee Rob Jones was playing too much of a part, with his whistle-happy approach stopping any flow to the game and chances were at a premium in the first half.
Tielemans, the standout player, almost added a second on the stroke of half-time with a curling 25-yard effort that was heading into the top corner until Leno got fingertips to it, with Jones again getting it wrong by awarding a goal-kick.
Villa should have doubled their lead less than 30 seconds after the restart as Matty Cash was set free down the right and his cross was perfect for Ollie Watkins, but the England striker kicked at fresh air and the chance was gone.
Fulham had the ball in the back of the net in the 50th minute when Ryan Sessegnon drilled into the bottom corner but it hit his hand in the build-up and was correctly ruled out.
The Cottagers had another chance soon after as they broke at speed, with Alex Iwobi picking out Harry Wilson, but the midfielder could not get enough on his shot which looped straight at Emiliano Martinez.
It was end-to-end and Villa had a brilliant chance to double their lead just after the hour.
Morgan Rogers’ inch-perfect ball set Watkins in the clear but his low shot was kept out by the feet of Leno.
Villa continued to push for that elusive second and Donyell Malen could not turn in Rogers’ cross before blazing over when through on goal.
The Dutchman then rattled the crossbar deep into stoppage time when played in by Jacob Ramsey, but Villa did enough.
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