Fulham - 3 Aston Villa - 3: This was a careless thriller of a match in which Fulham took the lead three times and allowed Aston Villa to come back three times. By the time we had five goals, with Fulham holding a slender advantage, it looked as though the scoring must be over.
But Villa, overrun for long passages, had another sting left. This time James Milner crossed from the left and the ball passed through two Fulham defenders on the near post for the central defender Liam Ridgewell to run in and score his second goal.
For all the speed and zeal of Fulham's forward line their defence always looked more than capable of undoing all their good work. They were, mostly, awful, missing too many important players.
They were forced to omit midfielder Papa Bouba Diop, who has not recovered from an ankle injury, and Steed Malbranque, Moritz Volz and Claus Jensen were also unavailable.
The referee Richard Beeby was also unlucky. He injured himself in the warm-up and had to be replaced by the fourth official, Andy D'Urso.
Fulham's opening goal came in the 13th minute and it led from Luis Boa Morte's ball down the left for Tomasz Radzinski, who cut the ball back for Brian McBride to score with a header.
Villa, though, had already exposed an inclination to ponder in the Fulham defence. Luke Moore should have made more of Milan Baros's through ball in the ninth minute and Wilfred Bouma might have done better than blast wildly over.
They did score after 29 minutes and if it was against the run of play it was hardly a surprise. Moore finished but once again it was Baros who provided the killer ball.
Their joy was brief, however. Three minutes later D'Urso blew for a penalty. Mark Delaney's clumsy challenge had sent Radzinski sprawling in the area. Despite all Villa's protests, it looked the correct decision.
Heidar Helguson rolled the ball in as Thomas Sorensen moved to his right.
Then, on the hour, Villa equalised once more. It was a soft goal. Milner crossed from the right and Mark Crossley allowed Ridgewell to come in and tuck the ball tamely under his body.
Fulham's response was again immediate. Boa Morte crossed from the left and McBride's header was so precise that Sorsensen could only stand and stare as the ball flew into the corner.
Villa, though, were still not finished.
l Guardian Service
FULHAM: Crossley, Leacock (Niclas Jensen 57), Knight, Bocanegra, Rosenior, Christanval, Legwinski (Elrich 78), Boa Morte, Radzinski, McBride, Helguson (John 84). Subs not used: Warner, Pearce. Goals: McBride 13, Helguson 32 pen, McBride 61.
ASTON VILLA: Sorensen, Hughes, Delaney, Ridgewell, Bouma (Bakke 76), Milner, McCann, Davis, Barry, Baros, Moore (Angel 70). Subs not used: Taylor, Whittingham, Gardner. Booked: Baros, Moore, Hughes, Ridgewell. Goals: Moore 29, Ridgewell 60, 76.
Referee: A D'Urso (Essex).
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