Match ends, Aston Villa 2, Fulham 1.
Aston VillaAston Villa2FulhamFulham1
Former Chelsea and England captain John Terry scored his first Aston Villa goal to help them beat Fulham and move into the Championship play-off places.
The defender nodded in a fine Conor Hourihane delivery, but Stefan Johansen equalised with a curling free-kick.
Villa regained the lead when Jonathan Kodjia's mis-kick fell for team-mate Albert Adomah to net at the back post.
Floyd Ayite shot at Sam Johnstone as Fulham rallied, while Kodjia was denied a penalty after being bundled over.
Steve Bruce's Villa side are yet to lose at home in the league this season and rose to fifth place, while defeat ended Fulham's four-game unbeaten run and left them in mid-table.
Villa skipper Terry, 36, joined the Midlands club this summer, and his header was the 68th club goal of his career - and the first not in a Chelsea shirt.
Norway international Johansen levelled against the run of play for Slavisa Jokanovic's side, but the hosts deserved the luck that led to what proved to be the winning goal.
Fulham should have left with a point, but Ayite could not beat Johnstone from close range after a classy cutback from Ryan Fredericks.
It means Villa have only lost one of their past 17 home league games against Fulham - a 2-1 Premier League defeat in April 2014.
Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce:
"We are just about starting in the Championship for me. The winter is upon us and the marathon is starting. But we have made progress from where we were 12 months ago.
"We would like some more points after a poor start but we have dug deep and have only one defeat in 10 games. We are going in the right direction.
"I thought John Terry played very well and he is always going to chip in with a few goals."
Fulham head coach Slavisa Jokanovic:
"We were not clinical as we missed chances while Villa scored two easy goals from situations which were not dangerous to us.
"We did not have enough quality or personality to appreciate the situations.
"Everyone knows about John Terry and his danger from set-pieces. We cannot be surprised because Villa are good in set-pieces and he punished us on this occasion."
Line-ups
Aston Villa
Formation 4-4-1-1
- 1Johnstone
- 27El Mohamady
- 5Chester
- 26Terry
- 21Hutton
- 7SnodgrassSubstituted forde Laetat 81'minutes
- 6Whelan
- 14Hourihane
- 37AdomahSubstituted forBjarnasonat 86'minutes
- 18OnomahBooked at 82mins
- 22KodjiaSubstituted forDavisat 73'minutes
Substitutes
- 2de Laet
- 4Samba
- 9Hogan
- 13Steer
- 20Bjarnason
- 36O'Hare
- 39Davis
Fulham
Formation 4-3-3
- 27Button
- 2Fredericks
- 26Kalas
- 13Ream
- 3R Sessegnon
- 16NorwoodBooked at 9minsSubstituted forCairneyat 60'minutes
- 6McDonald
- 8JohansenSubstituted forCisséat 73'minutes
- 9FonteBooked at 15minsSubstituted forKebanoat 79'minutes
- 47Kamara
- 11Ayité
Substitutes
- 1Bettinelli
- 4Odoi
- 5Soares Alves
- 7Kebano
- 10Cairney
- 22Mollo
- 44Cissé
- Referee:
- Mike Jones
- Attendance:
- 30,724
Match Stats
Home TeamAston VillaAway TeamFulham
- Possession
- Home32%
- Away68%
- Shots
- Home15
- Away9
- Shots on Target
- Home6
- Away2
- Corners
- Home2
- Away5
- Fouls
- Home14
- Away14
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Aston Villa 2, Fulham 1.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Kevin McDonald (Fulham) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Post update
Attempt missed. Aboubakar Kamara (Fulham) right footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Tom Cairney.
Post update
Neeskens Kebano (Fulham) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Post update
Foul by Birkir Bjarnason (Aston Villa).
Post update
Attempt missed. Keinan Davis (Aston Villa) header from the left side of the six yard box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Conor Hourihane with a cross following a corner.
Substitution
Substitution, Aston Villa. Birkir Bjarnason replaces Albert Adomah.
Post update
Corner, Aston Villa. Conceded by David Button.
Post update
Attempt saved. Ritchie de Laet (Aston Villa) header from the right side of the six yard box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Albert Adomah.
Post update
Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Alan Hutton.
Booking
Josh Onomah (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Aboubakar Kamara (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Josh Onomah (Aston Villa).
Substitution
Substitution, Aston Villa. Ritchie de Laet replaces Robert Snodgrass.
Post update
Attempt missed. Conor Hourihane (Aston Villa) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Glenn Whelan.
Substitution
Substitution, Fulham. Neeskens Kebano replaces Rui Fonte.
Post update
Foul by Floyd Ayité (Fulham).
Post update
John Terry (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Rui Fonte (Fulham).
