Aston Villa beat Fulham at Villa Park to move up to fifth in the Premier League and boost their chances of playing in a European competition for the first time since 2010.
Tyrone Mings scored the crucial goal, his first in the league since November 2021, with a glancing header following John McGinn’s excellent inswinging corner.
Fulham saw Andreas Pereira fire an acrobatic volley into the side-netting after only 30 seconds, but struggled to create further clear-cut chances.
Unai Emery’s Villa are now unbeaten in 10 Premier League matches and this victory takes them above Tottenham and five points behind third-placed Newcastle United, although they have played two games more.
They have not played in Europe since losing to Rapid Vienna in the Europa League play-offs in August 2010.