The Holy Trinity: Aston Villa conclusions from Premier League loss at Fulham

Villa were below par at Craven Cottage with a Champions League place tantalisingly close

Losing at Craven Cottage wasn’t necessarily a shock but games like Fulham away, games against very good teams that can hurt anyone, can be the difference between success and failure at the end of the season.

Aston Villa won’t be defined by this 1-0 loss in London. There have been easier games lost and tougher games won, and even in hindsight we won’t be looking back at this as a single game that decided the outcome of the season.

Nevertheless, its proximity to both the end of the Premier League campaign and the first leg of the Europa League semi-final against Nottingham Forest means that a lacklustre performance was most unwelcome and very poorly timed.

Manager Unai Emery wore his frustration on his sleeve throughout the match. While he wasn’t wrong to acknowledge that there was lots about the game that demonstrated Villa might have won it, ‘might’ and the end of April do not mix in football.

Here’s your Holy Trinity of match conclusions: