U23s: Aston Villa 1-1 Fulham

Aston Villa and Fulham played out a lively draw in Premier League 2 at Bodymoor Heath on Friday night.

Connor McAvoy buried a penalty in the opening minutes as the visitors made all the early running.

The Young Lions hit back through Caleb Chukwuemeka to level at half-time before the striker was denied several times by some last-ditch defending.

Both sides had efforts cleared off the line as they took it in turns to attack in the second half, but a draw kept Villa’s unbeaten start to the season alive.

Both sides had won their opening two games, but it was the visitors who flowed forward with confidence straight from the off, winning a penalty with less than two minutes played.

After a combination of Paul Appiah and Lamare Bogarde had floored Terry Ablade, Fulham skipper McAvoy stepped up to smash the ball down the middle and past Viljami Sinisalo.

Villa were made to defend for the majority of the first 20 minutes, but they finally found their stride when a move that started with Tim Iroegbunam’s driving run and ended with Tristan Goodridge poking wide.

Fulham were moving the ball quickly in behind the hosts’ backline and they came within inches of scoring a second when Sonny Hilton’s drive cannoned off the post.

The home side made the most of their reprieve after 32 minutes when Chukwuemeka raced onto a through ball midway inside Fulham’s half, knocked it round the stranded goalkeeper and slotted past two desperate defenders.

After some early pressure from the Londoners to begin the second half, Chukwuemeka was bearing down on goal once again. This time, McAvoy made a superb sliding block to thwart the striker.

The Villa front man was proving difficult to stop and he was only denied his brace by a goalline clearance from the Fulham skipper, who got back to divert the forward’s header to safety.

Minutes later it was the turn of substitute Patrick Zito to come to the home side’s rescue, getting back on the line to clear the ball following a goalmouth scramble.

As the game ticked towards full-time, it was Fulham who applied the pressure. First, Luke Harris missed an open goal from six yards out before Sinisalo denied him with a superb reflex save to earn Villa a point.