The frightening Aston Villa truth and why Ollie Watkins was upset before completing comeback at Fulham

BirminghamLive brings you the talking points from Aston Villa's win over Fulham at Craven Cottage

Aston Villa continued their strong start to the campaign by ending Fulham's unbeaten home record with a 3-1 victory at Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon.

It's the first time Villa have registered away league wins against Fulham in history having also defeated Marco Silva's side last term, which was seen as a crucial win as Villa entered the final third of the season. The Cottagers finished just two points outside the top 10 in the campaign and were also very much one of the in-form sides in the division heading into the October international break.

Raul Jimenez has rediscovered his goalscoring touch under Silva and opened the scoring for hosts as he got the better of Pau Torres before beating Emi Martinez in the fifth minute. But this Villa side have so much belief and confidence, just like in the comebacks against Everton and Wolves, not once did they panic or deviate from the game plan set by Emery.

READ | John Townley's Aston Villa player ratings with 8s and 9s as Fulham beaten 3-1 at Craven Cottage

READ | Martinez 'dream', red cards, silencing Adama - every word from Unai Emery as Aston Villa win again

Here are the talking points from Villa's win in the capital...

IMPROVEMENTS CAN STILL BE MADE

The Villa boss informed his squad of the tactical plan to overcome Fulham on Friday morning, before he also worked with them on the evening and ahead of the match and Saturday morning too. He always equips his players the best chance of getting a result, leaving it to them to carry out his demands.

By beating Fulham, Villa have made their best start to a Premier League season after eight games for 26 years. The exciting thing is that it feels like Emery's side have plenty more to give and much more still to improve on.

Villa have gone behind in four of their last five games which is something Emery will be trying to fix. His side have also conceded more goals than he'd have liked and have only kept one clean sheet in the league so far.

Yet they've collected 17 points from a possible 24 and are just one point from the top of the table at the point of writing.

Emery had the luxury of picking from a fully fit squad, but chose to leave Tyrone Mings out and name Ezri Konsa on the bench after he only recently recovered from injury. Captain John McGinn was also among the subs, as was Jhon Duran, Jaden Philogene, Ross Barkley, Emi Buendia and the returning Boubacar Kamara. This Villa squad is stacked.

And now that players have returned from injuries, you get the feeling that Villa can still improve the level of performance they are showing which is frightening considering they have collected the fourth-most points since Emery's arrival two years ago.

WATKINS LOOKS BACK TO HIS BEST

It was a difficult start to the season for Ollie Watkins, who was dealing with injury in the first weeks of the campaign. He appears to be getting back to, or is indeed, back to his best after playing a key role in the turnaround at Craven Cottage.

His header to put Villa in front on the hour mark was sublime. The technique to pull it off is so difficult, but it's not the first time we've seen Watkins make the very most from a half-chance.

Minutes after putting Villa in the lead, his movement and intelligence to sneak in front of Joachim Andersen gave referee Darren England no choice but to send the Dane off for denying the Villa striker a goal-scoring opportunity.

Watkins was getting frustrated before he scored that he hadn't opened his account for the game after picking up some excellent positions in the box. In the 38th minute, he shouted at Lucas Digne and was angry with the full-back for not finding him just yards out from goal.

Diego Carlos picked Digne out on the left flank and the Frenchman then only had to roll the ball across the box, but he opted to pass to Morgan Rogers instead. It was then Rogers who should have found Watkins at the far post in the 49th minute, but he chose to pull the ball back.

Despite both Rogers and Digne having those two chances to assist Watkins, Emery praised them after full-time for their contributions in the match. Rogers got Villa back on level terms through a deflected strike, while Digne's cross was turned in by Issa Diop to extend the lead in the second half.

Speaking of Rogers, Emery said: "He is a talented player. The commitment he has with Aston Villa as he's from Birmingham. We are trying to push him, tactically as well he get his best position. He has the talent and that's the most important."

Asked about the importance of Digne and Matty Cash in the full-back positions, Emery responded: "We were getting through the left side with Ramsey and Lucas Digne. We were speaking in the dressing room to try to improve the last passes into the box. Four times we had a good chance to score through them."

RAMSEY'S ENCOURAGING PERFORMANCE

There were plenty of positives to take from the win against Fulham, including Jacob Ramsey's performance. The 22-year-old has struggled over the last 12 months to find form and get into a rhythm due to injury.

He has bags of talent and sometimes you feel that he lacks conviction at the critical moments, but he was superb at Craven Cottage. Every pass he played had a purpose and he managed to link well with Digne on the flank and Rogers inside the pitch.

This is a big season for Ramsey, whose aim was to stake a claim for a place in England's Euro 2024 squad this time last year. Injuries and a subsequent lack of consistency meant he couldn't deliver what we all know he is capable of.

He can make that role on the left side his own with a few more strong performances. Staying fit will also be crucial after he has only just come back from a groin strain, suffered in the Champions League clash against Bayern Munich at the start of the month.

CARLOS TAKES HIS CHANCE

Emery put his trust in Carlos on Saturday after deciding to start the Brazilian over Konsa, who isn't yet fully recovered from his muscle injury.

Carlos didn't feature in Villa's first four league games, but he has now started three of the club's last four league matches and played nearly 80 minutes against Manchester United after replacing Konsa early on in the match before the international break.

There's no denying Carlos really struggled at Portman Road in what was his second league appearance of the campaign, but credit where it is due, he was excellent against Fulham.

Against Fulham, Carlos completed 48 of the 51 passes he attempted and played six balls into the final third. He often loses more aerial duels than he wins, and that was the case again against Fulham, but it was a much-improved display from the 31-year-old.

Fulham held an interest in Carlos in the summer transfer window and while a move came close to being completed, it didn't quite get over the line.

CLARET & BLUE VERDICT

MARTINEZ DOING WHAT HE DOES BEST

I can't sign off my talking points without mentioning Martinez's role in the win. This is Premier League football and no matter how good of a team you are, coming from behind twice to win a match is an incredibly difficult task. So despite the lack of conviction in Andreas Pereira's penalty, Martinez still deserves all the plaudits for denying him from 12 yards.

"That's why he's the best," Rogers said of Martinez and his penalty save after full-time. "That's what he does. If it goes 2-1 anything can happen in the game."

Since debuting for Villa in September 2020, Martinez has saved four Premier League penalties with only Lukasz Fabianski saving more in this time (five).

He also made a crucial save against Fulham last season in the final stages when Adama Traore raced into the box and had a golden chance to snatch a point from the game. Time after time, it's Martinez who comes out on top when the odds are stacked in the attacker's favour to score.

What did you make of Villa's performance? Tell us here

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