Villa youngsters broken by late Fulham leveller

Brede Hangeland’s towering header rescued a point for Fulham in an engaging 1-1 draw with Aston Villa at Craven Cottage in the Premier League on Saturday.

Gerard Houllier’s youngsters looked to be putting their season on track when Villa’s Marc Albrighton scored in the first half, but giant defender Hangeland popped up four minutes into injury time to salvage a draw.

Villa turned in an impressive performance, typified by young midfielder Barry Bannan, to give former Liverpool boss Houllier hope of climbing the table, but the loss of two points is a bitter blow.

The away team made a lively start and threatened Mark Schwarzer’s goal as early as the second minute when Stewart Downing was released by Albrighton but his shot was well blocked.

The Cottagers responded immediately with a neat move of their own that resulted in Clint Dempsey crossing for Zoltan Gera to head straight at Brad Friedel in the away goal.

The breathless start to the game continued, with Villa looking threatening on the break, and they came within inches of breaking the deadlock on 15 minutes but striker Nathan Delfouneso’s header flashed wide.

Again, Fulham hit back and carved out a clear opening for American forward Dempsey, but Friedel blocked his countryman’s finish.

Dempsey was made to pay for his wastefulness shortly before half-time when Albrighton fired Villa into the lead.

Bannan fired a precise 40-yard pass into the path of the young midfielder, who controlled instantly before finishing past Schwarzer.

The visitors picked up where they left off before the break with the impressive Bannan, who was running the show in midfield, nearly doubling the advantage with a firm effort that rebounded back off Hangeland.

The diminutive Scot nearly claimed another assist minutes later, whipping in a dangerous cross that Schwarzer bravely dived to intercept.

The Cottagers looked to have run out of ideas until deep into injury time, when Norway defender Hangeland used his height advantage to nod Danny Murphy’s inviting cross past Friedel.