SUPER Eagles of Nigeria trio Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey and Samuel Chukwueze were all involved for Fulham today but could not help their team avoid a 3-1 English Premier League defeat to Aston Villa at Villa Park.
While Iwobi and Bassey were in Fulham’s starting line-up, Chukwueze was an 80th minute substitute for the club he joined from AC Milan this summer.
Ollie Watkins ended his goal drought to inspire Aston Villa to come from behind to secure their first Premier League win of the season.
The England striker had not scored in his previous nine games, the joint-worst run of his Villa career, but his equaliser gave his side the platform for victory.
John McGinn and substitute Emi Buendia – his first Villa goal for a year — scored twice in two minutes just after the break to put the game beyond Fulham.
Raul Jimenez’s header had given the visitors a third-minute lead but the striker was forced off injured soon after.
The Cottagers — who have won just one of their past 22 league games at Villa Park — faded after a strong start. That allowed Villa, who again looked poor for the majority of the first half, back into the game.
Ezri Konsa cleared off the line from Sasa Lukic as Fulham looked to recover from their nightmare start to the second half but by then Villa had taken control.
With the result, Aston Villa rose from the bottom three in the table to 16th with six points from as many games, while Fulham are 10th with eight points.