Fulham 3 Aston Villa 1: Ryan Sessegnon, Sone Aluko and Neeskens Kebano send Cottagers into play-off spot with win against 10-man Villa
Villa went a goal and a man down early in the first half when top scorer Jonathan Kodjia saw red for kicking out at Fulham defender Ryan Fredericks
FULHAM stormed into the top six showing the attacking flair that could take them all the way to Wembley.
Villa boss Steve Bruce left Craven Cottage fuming over Jonathan Kodjia’s 22nd-minute red card — but it failed to take off the gloss from Fulham’s third straight win.
Goals from superkid Ryan Sessegnon, man-of-the-match Sone Aluko and sub Neeskens Kebano sent the Londoners soaring into the play-off zone as they leapfrogged Leeds.
And the promotion charge, which could end in the play-off final at Wembley, is all down to their attack — Fulham are now top scorers in the Championship with 78 goals, as boss Slavisa Jokanovic plots to reclaim the Premier League place they lost in 2014.
The home side were already a goal up through a cool 17th-minute strike by 16-year-old Sessegnon when Kodjia was shown a straight red.
The Villa striker reacted to a tackle by Ryan Fredericks by booting the Fulham defender while he was on the ground — although Fredericks did appear to kick out first.
Referee David Coote sent Kodjia on his way after a conversation with fourth official Mike Salisbury.
Bruce said: “It was the fourth official who gave the decision on Kodjia. He’s missed the first kick at Kodjia by their full-back, which provoked him.
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“If he was going to send off Kodj, he had to send off their player.
“The referee didn’t see much in it, so why wasn’t it two yellow cards after a bit of petulance?
“It’s cost us the match, although we still might not have been good enough to beat them. But it did give Fulham a hell of an advantage.”
In fact, Villa reacted strongly and drew level with a glorious curling shot by Jack Grealish five minutes after half-time.
Jokanovic tilted the situation back in Fulham’s favour by sending on forward Kebano for full-back Scott Malone in the 55th minute.
Within seconds, Floyd Ayite’s cross set up Aluko to score with a left-foot shot.
Kebano tormented Villa down the right as the visitors’ defence was stretched to breaking point and he scored a deserved goal 11 minutes from time.
He ran on to Stefan Johansen’s sweeping crossfield pass and smashed an angled drive past Villa stopper Sam Johnstone.
Jokanovic said: “We showed quality and character. We showed that we believe in the way we want to play football.
“It’s encouraging for the last three games in the regular part of the Championship.
“There was a fantastic atmosphere at Craven Cottage today. I believe, my players believe and our supporters believe that we can finish in the top six and fight for a place in the Premier League.
“Bringing Kebano on helped us as we were giving them too much room and we needed an aggressive player on the pitch.
“But I didn’t take Scott Malone off because he was having a bad game. I took the decision for the benefit of the team.”