Aston Villa 1-0 Fulham

Tyrone Mings headed Aston Villa to a fifth successive home victory as they saw off Fulham 1-0 at Villa Park.

The centre-back flicked home captain John McGinn’s corner midway through the first half to net his first goal in claret and blue since November 2021.

It ensured Villa continued their run of scoring in all 20 Premier League fixtures under Unai Emery, the longest streak from the start of a manager’s tenure in the competition’s history.

And Mings’ header proved the difference against the Cottagers as Villa held firm to extend their unbeaten run to 10 Premier League matches, including eight wins and seven clean sheets.

It is the first time the Villans have won five consecutive top-flight matches on home soil without conceding a goal since 1983, moving the club up to fifth in the table on 54 points.

Emi Martínez was passed fit for having been substituted at half-time in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Brentford due to a stomach virus.

It meant head coach Emery named an unchanged XI, with the history books on Villa’s side heading into the encounter having suffered one defeat in their last 18 home league meetings with Fulham stretching back to 1973.

There was a lively start to proceedings as Andreas Pereira sent an acrobatic effort into the side-netting, while Emi Buendía and Ashley Young saw shots blocked at the other end.

Villa were the dominant force in the opening quarter and they got their reward with 21 minutes on the clock, Mings flicking on the excellent McGinn’s corner at the near post to send the ball looping over a stranded Bernd Leno.

The hosts were immediately pushing for a second and posed the greater attacking threat, Ollie Watkins forcing a save from Leno, who later kept out a header from McGinn as Villa held their advantage until the break.

The Villans maintained their lead after the restart as they largely controlled the clash, with second-half openings at a premium.

Watkins found space but fired over the crossbar in the 73^rd minute before Emery turned to substitutes Lucas Digne and Bertrand Traoré.

Douglas Luiz fired over the crossbar with 10 minutes remaining, Calum Chambers also introduced off the bench.

McGinn fired wide in injury time as Villa duly navigated five additional minutes to secure another impressive three points.