Premier League: Southampton held by Fulham, Villa crushes Palace
Aston Villa cruised to a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace despite Tyrone Mings' red card, while Southampton was held to a goalless draw by Fulham.
Published : Dec 26, 2020 23:02 IST
Southampton was left to rue the woodwork and close offside calls as it was held to a 0-0 draw against Fulham at Craven Cottage in the Premier League on Saturday.
Fulham threatened to break the deadlock through early counterattacks led by Andre-Frank Anguissa and Ademola Lookman while Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse's free kick in the 26th minute smashed the woodwork.
The visitor stepped up its intensity in the second half, with striker Shane Long's thunderous half-volley forcing an impressive save from Fulham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.
Long, who led the Southampton attack in the absence of the injured Danny Ings, found the net with 15 minutes remaining but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Theo Walcott's late goal appeared to claim all three points for Southampton but VAR found fellow forward Che Adams offside in the build-up.
Ten-man Villa beats Palace
Aston Villa made light of playing half the match with 10 men to thrash Crystal Palace 3-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.
Bertrand Traore put an impressive Villa side ahead early on but the host had Tyrone Mings dismissed shortly before the break after picking up a second yellow card.
It made little difference as it outplayed Palace in the second half with Kortney Hause heading in from close range to double their lead in the 66th minute.
Anwar El Ghazi's rasping finish 10 minutes later wrapped up the points for Villa and they could have won by a bigger margin had Ollie Watkins not been denied by the post late on.
Villa climbed to sixth in the standings with 25 points from 13 games while Palace stay in 13th place.