Fulham 3-0 Aston Villa: Gerrard departs after 10-man Villa crash to defeat

Aston Villa axed boss Steven Gerrard after Fulham dished out a 3-0 defeat at Craven Cottage. 

Having picked up just two Premier League wins ahead of this clash, Villa were booed off by the travelling support at half-time and the final whistle.

Fulham — without a win in three matches before tonight — started brightly and were rewarded for their early pressure in the 36th minute when Harrison Reed fired in from the edge of the box.

Douglas Luiz was shown a second-half red card following a VAR review of a minor altercation with Aleksandar Mitrovic, leaving the hosts in total control.  

A Matty Cash handball led to a penalty for Marco Silva's men, converted by Serbia striker Mitrovic, before Tyrone Mings put the ball in the back of his own net for Fulham’s third.

Willian spurned Fulham’s first significant chance in the fourth minute by firing straight at Emiliano Martinez.

Mitrovic was then picked out expertly by a long ball into the box, only to nod over the bar.

Fulham looked to be edging ever closer to the breakthrough when Andreas Pereira fired wide after being picked out by a Willian corner. 

Martinez had to dive low to deny Mitrovic from another corner — an effort that was blocked on the line by Mings.

The Villa keeper needed to be alert again in the 33rd minute to palm behind a curled low effort from Willian as Fulham continued to press.

And the first goal of the game finally arrived when the visitors failed to clear a corner. The ball fell to Reed and the midfielder made no mistake, taking a touch before firing past Martinez.

Villa had their first chance of any note just before half-time. Bernd Leno was unable to gather after punching the ball upwards and Issa Diop blocked Ollie Watkins’ follow-up effort on the line.

The second half started in a slightly more end-to-end fashion, with opportunities for both sides, although the Cottagers continued to look the more dangerous.

Matters got worse for Villa and Gerrard in the 63rd minute when Luiz was controversially sent off.

Luiz and Mitrovic had squared up with some minor contact between them but the Villa player was shown a red card for the altercation.

Cash’s handball in the box opened the door for Fulham to score their second shortly afterwards.

The Villa defender blocked the ball onto his own arm from a Mitrovic shot and referee Michael Oliver pointed immediately to the spot.

Fulham's No9 made no mistake, slotting home his eighth goal of the season.

The hosts wrapped up the points when Mings turned a Neeskens Kebano ball across the box into his own net.