Premier League
February 5, 2011
Aston Villa
2 - 2
Fulham
Premier League
15:00 +00:00, February 5, 2011
Villa Park, England
Referee: Lee Mason
Dempsey saves draw
Scoring Summary
| Aston Villa | Fulham |
|---|---|
| John Pantsil (og 13') | Andrew Johnson (52') |
| Kyle Walker (72') | Clint Dempsey (78') |
Teams
| Aston Villa | Fulham |
|---|---|
| 1 Brad Friedel | 1 Mark Schwarzer |
| 5 Richard Dunne | 5 Brede Hangeland |
| 29 James Collins | 18 Aaron Hughes |
| 21 Ciaran Clark | 6 Chris Baird |
| 36 Kyle Walker | 4 John Pantsil |
| 19 Stiliyan Petrov | 7 Steve Sidwell |
| 17 Jean Makoun | 13 Danny Murphy |
| 7 Ashley Young | 23 Clint Dempsey |
| 11 Gabriel Agbonlahor | 16 Damien Duff |
| 6 Stewart Downing | 30 Moussa Dembele |
| 39 Darren Bent | 8 Andrew Johnson |
| Substitutes | |
| 18 Emile Heskey | Jonathan Greening 27 |
| 8 Robert Pires | Simon Davies 29 |
| 33 Andy Marshall | Eidur Gudjohnsen 22 |
| 20 Nigel Reo-Coker | David Stockdale 12 |
| 24 Carlos Jimenez Cuellar | Zoltan Gera 11 |
| 14 Nathan Delfouneso | Carlos Salcido 3 |
| 12 Marc Albrighton | Gael Kakuta 24 |
| Substitutions | |
| Marc Albrighton for Stiliyan Petrov (84) | Carlos Salcido for John Pantsil (62) |
| Emile Heskey for Gabriel Agbonlahor (87) | Simon Davies for Damien Duff (68) |
| Eidur Gudjohnsen for Andrew Johnson (90) | |
| Yellow Cards | |
| Ashley Young (61) | Danny Murphy (71) |
| Stiliyan Petrov (77) | Chris Baird (87) |
| Jean Makoun (80) | |
| · Squads: Aston Villa | Fulham | |
Clint Dempsey's 10th goal of the campaign rescued a point for Fulham, after they had twice trailed to Aston Villa in a ding-dong Barclays Premier League clash at Villa Park.
• Hughes hails resiliant Fulham
• Blog: Proving a point
Villa twice looked set for victory after a John Pantsil own goal and Kyle Walker's first ever league goal put them in the ascendancy.
But Andy Johnson and then Dempsey struck back for Mark Hughes's side.
Villa dominated the first half with winger Stewart Downing causing plenty of problems and linking up well with full-back Walker down the right flank.
Newcomer Jean Makoun also impressed in the middle of the park and Villa deservedly led through the unfortunate Pantsil.
He had also scored an own goal in the corresponding fixture last season.
But it was a different story in the second half as Villa lost momentum and the visitors grew in confidence with skipper David Murphy impressive in the middle of the park.
Villa were first to settle and Downing made a powerful run into the Fulham box and saw his low shot parried by Mark Schwarzer.
Record Villa signing Darren Bent was alert to tuck away the rebound but he had strayed marginally offside.
Downing was looking sharp and it was his quality which led to a Pantsil own goal giving Villa the lead after 13 minutes.
Makoun found the England winger on the right flank and he cut inside before delivering a teasing centre with the outside of his left foot.
Pantsil, under pressure from Gabriel Agbonlahor, could only head the ball past Schwarzer into the corner of the net.
Former Villa midfielder Steve Sidwell had Fulham's first shot on goal after 18 minutes but Brad Friedel was equal to his swerving drive from 20 yards.
Downing was causing constant problems down the right flank with his runs and testing crosses.
A mistake by Villa skipper Stiliyan Petrov allowed Mousa Dembele a free run at the penalty area.
But, after the ball broke to Duff, Villa left-back Ciaran Clark was alert to block his low shot.
Sidwell was only just wide of the target with a low shot which had Friedel scrambling across his goal.
Another error from Petrov played Makoun into trouble and Mousa Dembele tried to take advantage but James Collins made a typical block.
Sidwell brought danger to his side when he brought down Petrov 30 yards out in a central position.
Downing's shot was blocked but Makoun's follow-up effort was only just wide.
Villa began the second half on top and Schwarzer held on to a drive from Agbonlahor.
Bent then failed to make proper contact with a shot after making good ground.
Sidwell was providing the main threat for Fulham and Collins deflected his low attempt for a corner. But after 52 minutes former Birmingham striker Andy Johnson brought Fulham level.
Friedel parried another shot from Sidwell - and Johnson was first to react to the rebound.
Clark could have restored Villa's lead immediately but failed to make clean contact with his header from Downing's centre.
Agbonlahor then teed up Young but he sliced his shot wide.
Young was yellow carded for a challenge on Sidwell after 62 minutes.
After 72 minutes a long-range strike from Walker restored Villa's lead.
Walker had time to line up a 30-yard shot which flew past Schwarzer into the corner of the net.
Petrov was booked for a foul on Sidwell with 13 minutes remaining and 60 seconds later Fulham levelled for the second time.
Friedel came out for but never reached Murphy's corner and Dempsey headed home.
Tempers became frayed and Makoun was yellow carded for a challenge on Dempsey and then Baird for chopping down Young. Friedel made a fine save to block Johnson's powerful drive with a minute remaining.
Hughes said: "John was disappointed at half-time. It was affecting him so I made the early decision to take him off. It was a difficult ball for him to deal with but he got it wrong and it can affect your confidence.
"You always review every goal you concede to try to erase any little defaults. But I was pleased with the way the team came back twice and kicked on and in the end we could have taken three points.''
Hughes added: "We picked ourselves up from the own goal and restricted Villa to very few opportunities in the first half. It was a great finish by Andrew Johnson and we then really took the game to Villa and asked questions of them.
"We went behind again but we kept going, weren't to be denied and showed great quality.''
In contrast, Villa boss Gerard Houllier felt his side paid the penalty for a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal.
He said: "We dropped two points today. Had we got a second goal at 1-0 the game would have been over. But we have to be disappointed with ourselves, we have to blame ourselves.
"I'm disappointed with the result but not the performance. At times we played good football and are improving. But we need to be more clinical and ruthless.
"That was also the case when we played Manchester United here. In the final third, we must show more aggression. But it is a long season and we are learning.
"We could also have avoided both goals we conceded. We have enough height at the back. The players were disappointed with themselves but there are positives I can take from the game.''