Aston Villa followed up their first away win in 14 months with their first back-to-back wins in 17 months.
Villa defeated Fulham 1-0 courtesy of Jonathan Kodjia’s stunning volley in the 80th minute; his third goal in as many matches. This win moves Villa up to 16th in the table with 17 points; only 6 points behind a play-off place.
This was a game which Villa, despite the fact that Fulham had 66% of the possession, deserved to win. For all their possession, Fulham created little and did not have a single shot on target the whole match. Villa, on the other hand, made what little possession they had count; over the course of the 90 minutes, they had 9 shots off target and 7 shots on target. If it weren’t for some fine saves by Fulham’s keeper, Villa would have won a lot more comfortably.
Here are four things that we learnt from Villa’s win against Fulham.
Steve Bruce Is The Right Man For The Job
Steve Bruce has only been in charge for three games and he already has more wins than Roberto Di Matteo managed in 12 games. Bruce, with 7 points from a possible 9, is slowly using his magic to lift Villa up the table and, come the end of the season, I fully expect us to be in the fight for promotion.
Di Matteo had to go and Xia replaced him with the right man for the job.
Baker Is A Very Adequate Replacement For Elphick
The fact that we have not missed Tommy Elphick over the last two games is testament to just how good Baker has been. He has been very good in the last two games and he is forming a solid partnership with Chester. Overall, he has shown us that he is a very adequate replacement for Elphick.
Jonathan Kodjia Will Be Villa's Top Scorer This Season
Jonathan Kodjia’s stunning volley was his third goal in as many matches. He has been on fire lately and is undoubtedly one of Villa’s best players.
He is the key to our promotion bid and, if he stays fit, he will definitely be Villa’s top scorer this season with 15-20 goals.
Jordan Amavi Needs To Start Ahead Of Cissokho
Amavi was superb in today’s match. He was strong in the tackle, aware of his positioning and he constantly supported his team mates. In essence, he did everything that Cissokho does not.
Therefore, when he is fit it is imperative that starts ahead of Cissokho.