Jack Grealish struck his first Premier League goal of the season to give Villa a fourth-minute lead, before Conor Hourihane followed it up just over 10 minutes later.
Fulham’s defensive issues were on full show as Tyrone Mings struck just after half-time to seal the three points, before the home side had a Bobby Decordova-Reid goal ruled out by VAR.
I apologize to @FulhamFC supporters for our performance tonight. We’ve looked to add centre-backs since Wembley, I’m sorry we haven’t yet as 2 got COVID + we lost a Free we thought was close + had another issue with a 4th CB. I promise players in + better efforts from this squad.
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) September 28, 2020
Cottagers owner Khan took to Twitter straight after the full-time whistle to apologise for his team’s display and also promised to bring in reinforcements before the transfer window closes.
When asked about Khan’s comments, head coach Parker said: “I think in terms of defending we weren’t good enough tonight and we’ve not been good enough for the first three games this season.
“We need to address that, I think we all know we need to address that. It was an area we’ve certainly brought up and it’s an area that everyone at the football club hopefully can see as well to be fair.
“I thought we played very, very well for large parts, but the first time they came into our box they scored, and the second time they scored another goal and you just can’t give up goals like we have and expect to win games in this division.
“I think you see that at the other end for them. We got up to their goal pretty well but they defended it.”
On Khan’s tweet regarding difficulties in signing players, Parker said: “I wouldn’t know. I honestly wouldn’t know. I think the people in the places to be at this football club make them decisions.
“I’ve highlighted where I think we need to improve. I’ve highlighted that straight after Wembley. Not just defenders, just where we need to improve in this team.”
Villa boss Dean Smith praised the defensive solidity of his side and believes his players are full of confidence following their fine run of form to avoid relegation last season.
2 from 2 🤩 #AVFC pic.twitter.com/lnmacuBQZs
— Ezri Konsa (@EzriKonsa) September 28, 2020
“You’ve got to find a balance in football and sometimes the balance is a desire to keep the ball out of the back of the net, and the players have certainly found that at the moment,” Smith told Sky Sports.
“We had to work extremely hard to retain our Premier League status. We had a great run, conceded very few goals over the last few games.
“But this was always going to be a tough game for us – our first away game this season and Fulham fighting for their first points.”
