Fulham experienced a tough start to the season under Alvaro Arbeloa, who became head coach in the summer after Marco Silva left.

They gathered just two points from their first six Premier League games as pressure mounted on the former Real Madrid boss.

But there has been an upturn of late and this was another encouraging display, after 1-0 wins over promoted Hull City and Coventry City in their past two league matches.

Arbeloa will be delighted with how Fulham responded to going a goal down just before the break against Aston Villa.

The visitors were the better side in the second half, with Gonzalo Garcia twice having chances inside the opening 10 minutes.

Zion Suzuki did well to save from Alex Iwobi, with the follow-up deflected over for a corner, before the goalkeeper then made his defining error.

Arbeloa should be pleased with the defensive performance that helped his side hold on for a point, despite late Villa pressure, with centre-half Calvin Bassey named as man of the match.