For Aston Villa to have lost only one game in all competitions this season and it’s nearly November is pretty impressive.
Unai Emery has been the mastermind behind it all, including guiding Aston Villa to a 3-1 win over Fulham on Saturday at Craven Cottage, with both teams seeing men sent off in the second half, including Jaden Philogene right at the death.
It didn’t start in the manner that the away team would have liked because Pau Torres helped Fulham score the opener, before Morgan Rogers equalised minutes later and then Marco Silva’s side were awarded a penalty.
Emi Martinez saved Andreas Pereira’s penalty for Villa and it proved to be a turning point after a drama-filled second half.
From Ollie Watkins scoring a brilliant header to put the Midlands side into the lead, Joacim Andersson then seeing red for fouling Villa’s hitman as he went through on goal to Issa Diop then putting the ball into the back of his own net as soon as he entered the pitch.
That allowed Emery to rotate his players and make changes with more ease, including bringing Philogene on after an hour for Leon Bailey.
Jaden Philogene reminds Fulham fans of Aston Villa score after red card
In the 88th minute and the 93rd minute, Philogene was shown two yellows, the second one certainly very harsh and not even a foul.
The Fulham fans were giving the Aston Villa youngster stick as he went off and he responded brilliantly.
‘Philogene takes an eternity to get off the pitch,’ wrote The Athletic write Jacon Tanswell on Twitter.
“Fulham fans boo him, but he raises three fingers up and one on the other hand, to remind them of the score.”
Which games will Jaden Philogene miss for Aston Villa?
There were a host of red cards being shown across this weekend of Premier League football, including the most high-profile one being William Saliba’s straight red against Bournemouth.
Whilst the Frenchman will miss three matches for Arsenal, Philogene will only be on the sidelines for one match and that will be against Bournemouth this coming Saturday.
This will open the door for the out-of-form Leon Bailey to keep his place in the XI, but you wonder if he is still injured.
Emery stated before the international break that Bailey has injury ‘problems’ and he ‘isn’t 100 per cent fit’ and you wonder if he is still carrying something because he still doesn’t seem himself.
