Aston Villa 0-1 Fulham: Tom Cairney fires Cottagers into Premier LeagueBy Simeon Gholam at Wembley
Last Updated: 26/05/18 7:27pm
Fulham are back in the Premier League after Tom Cairney's goal helped them see off Aston Villa 1-0 in the Sky Bet Championship play-off final at Wembley. Cairney struck midway through the first half in a fierce-tempered occasion on Saturday, with the Cottagers having to see through the final 20 minutes with 10 men following Denis Odoi's dismissal. It means Slavisa Jokanovic's side, who lost in the semi-finals last year, will return to the top flight for the first time in four years. Steve Bruce, meanwhile, will have to wait a little longer for a record fifth promotion to the Premier League. The pattern of the game was set from the off as Fulham dominated possession and Aston Villa sat deep to absorb pressure, but with just 23 minutes on the clock, the side in white managed to find their way through.
Ryan Sessegnon came in from the left flank and caused problems, slipping a fine ball between Alan Hutton and John Terry to find the run in behind of Cairney, who showed superb composure as he rolled the ball past Sam Johnstone.
Fulham had the lead but were maybe a little lucky not to be down to 10 men six minutes later. As Ryan Fredericks and Jack Grealish tussled for the ball, the Villa man went to ground and the Fulham defender appeared to stamp on his opponent. Nothing, however, was given by the referee.
Grealish came out of the incident unscathed and could easily have given Villa the equaliser with their biggest opening of the game shortly after the break. Albert Adomah cut inside and curled an inviting ball right into the heart of the Fulham area for his team-mate, but Grealish could not get a clean head on the ball under pressure from Marcus Bettinelli and his effort curled over the bar.
A red card seemed inevitable with so many rough challenges and it came with 20 minutes to go.
A rash high boot from Odoi, who scored the winner in the semi-final against Derby, caught Grealish - who could have been sent off earlier for a wild lunge on Cairney - leaving the referee no choice but to show him a second yellow card.
For Villa, 36 years to the day since their European Cup triumph, there would be no promotion to celebrate.
They will play in the Championship next season for the third-consecutive campaign.
http://www.skysports.com/football/a-villa-vs-fulham/389284
