Fulham v Aston Villa: live Villa will point to a second half foul on Gabby Agbonlahor in the area which should have brought them their own spot kick, and had that been converted who knows how many tricks Fulham's nerves might have played on them, but referee Mike Dean said no and the game drifted away into a deserved 2-0 home win. Fulham draw level on points with Palace and West Ham - Sunderland find themselves further adrift. Full Time - Fulham 2 Aston Villa 0 90+2 min Stekelenburg has had nothing to do all afternoon - just as well from a live blogger's point of view with that name - and out of boredom he produces a camera save from a routine Benteke long range strike. 90+1 min Albrighton's floated free kick is headed straight back to Stekelenburg the keeper. Limp set piece, lame Villa performance. 90 min Three added minutes. 88 min Riise again tries his luck from outside the area, but this shot - his fourth serious effort of the game - is straight at the keeper. Villa have had a single shot on target in total in this game, Riise has managed four times that many on his own from left full back. 87 min Game just drifting towards a conclusion now, Villa haven't done enough to affect the game and are quietly slipping to defeat. 83 min Villa want a penalty as Agbonlahor is sent sprawling in the area by Aaron Hughes. Mike Dean has a really long hard look at the assistant referee on that side and awards nothing. It's a penalty all day long, Hughes is nowhere near the ball and plenty of contact. Given the soft nature of Fulham's first half spot kick, Paul Lambert will have plenty to say after this. "Two nil, to the referee" sing the away fans. 80 min Herd, struggling, is replaced by Matthew Lowton. Marc Albrighton goes on for Andy Weimann. Dice well and truly thrown for the final time by Paul Lambert. Probably time to get the bus heater on as well. 77 min Riise is absolutely determined to break that goalscoring duck today. He strides onto a ball wide left and cracks a low drive from 25 yards that flashes past the post with Guzan staggering around trying to remember what day it is. 76 min Older, more experienced legs for the Fulham midfield - Damien Duff wheeled on instead of Kacaniklic who has worked his legs into bloodied stumps today. 74 min Herd is clearly having some problems with his eyesight. He's just leathered a clearance straight into his team mate Clark and only some scrambling defence on the goal line prevents another entry for the Own Goals and Gaffes Christmas DVD. 72 min Fresh, younger legs for the Fulham midfield - Karagounis trudges off, Kasami comes on. 69 min Big night out yesterday was it Brad? This time the Villa keeper is lucky that having spilled a low shot from Dejagah into the path of Berbatov he's able to fall on the loose ball and prevent a third goal. Straight to the other end of the field where a cross towards Benteke falls plum for Weimann on the penalty spot but he and Westwood get in each other's way and the chance has gone. Entertaining second half, Fulham nerves growing. 66 min All getting rather silly now. Berbatov bangs into Herd, no free kick is awarded and in frustration and anger the Villa man flies in on Karagounis who completes eight full rolls across the turf while simultaneously clutching his knee and screaming. First yellow card of the game. Karagounis, it turns out, has lived through the incident and is now back on his feet. Herd appears to be saying to the Villa bench that he can't see - which could be a bit of a logistical issue. 64 min Lucky escape for Brad Guzan. The American keeper has to come for a cross with two Fulham players unmarked at the back post, but he makes a total mess of it and Riise heads against the post with the goal totally at his mercy. 60 min Generous free kick awarded to Villa for an alleged foul on Tonev by Sidwell, when the Villa man appeared to overrun the ball. No controversy here though, Ashley Westwood sticks the ball straight in the stand behind the goal, totally missing a crowded penalty box full of bemused team mates. Very sporting of him. 58 min Karagounis running around as if he's 32 again, skipping past two men and firing over the bar from long range. 57 min Beneteke hunts Bacuna's low cross at the near post but Senderos gets it behind under heavy pressure. The resulting set piece hangs in the sun and Fulham are grateful it hits one ofn their players and goes behind rather than a Villa man and into the net. 54 min Villa have to attack to hunt a way back into the game, but it's leaving them vulnerable at the back. Parker picks Berbatov out at the back post but for the first time today he doesn't quite get it right and his first time volley shanks off into the Hammersmith End. At the other end Riise gets up well to clear an Agbonlahor cross away from the onurshing Weiman. This game is flying from one end of the field to the other now, it could finish any score if it carries on like this. Well, not 1-0 obviously. Or 1-1. Or 0-0. Sorry, I'll stop. 51 min Tonev perhaps isn't quite atuned to the pace of the game yet (I'm being kind, he's fast asleep) and Riise is able to run in behind him unmarked and belt a first time volley at goal when Sidwell picks him out with a raking pass. It's saved behind by Guzan - no goals in 81 Fulham appearances for the former Liverpool full back - and the keeper is equal to Senderos' powerful header from the set piece as well. 49 min End-to-end start to the half with Fulham forcing an early corner, then Delph cracking a low shot on the home goal that's blocked away, and then Dejagah crossing low into the Villa six yard box causing momentary panic. 46 min Paul Lambert not messing about here, immediately replacing El Ahmadi with Aleksandar Tonev. 14.25 So to pass the time while the orange segments and gentle encouragement are handed around in the dressing rooms, let's turn our attentions very briefly to today's question about what exactly we're going to be calling England's World Cup group of inevitable, impending doom next summer. The Italians have apparently already decided... Half Time - Fulham 2 Aston Villa 0 So far so good for René Meulensteen in his second game in charge. Aston Villa's tactic of allowing opponents to have possession high up the field and hitting on the counter attack reckoned without the mesmeric talent of Dimitar Berbatov. The Bulgarian, enemy of the state during the week when his agent went public with his client's desire to leave, was involved in a neat move that set Steve Sidwell up for the first goal, and then set Kacaniklic away to win a soft penalty with a pass that had to be seen to be believed. Berbatov took the penalty himself, rolling it calmly into the corner with Guzan committed in the opposite direction. Villa were 2-0 down at West Brom a fortnight ago, and playing every bit as badly as this, and turned it around in the second half with a trio of substitutions and two quick fire goals. They'll need a repeat here. 45 min We're having two minutes of added time at the end of the half, and that will be extended still further by treatment for Chris Herd who took an arm to the face from Berbatov. Villa think it's a free kick to them, Mike Dean wants to start with a drop ball, Villa want Fulham to kick them the ball back, Steve Sidwell isn't having it. Finally it's rolled back to Guzan. 43 min Great chance for Villa to get back into the contest before half time. Riether pulls back Benteke on the edge of the box and sets up a very dangerous free kick... Bacuna misses the target trying to get the ball up and down over the wall. 39 min Not so hot with his defending though. A Villa corner is returned to the area by Delph and blocked right on the cusp of the penalty area by Berbatov with his hand. Westwood's free kick is cleared safely though. 36 min Berbatov is mesmerising Villa here. He slips a low pass into Sidwell in the area with his back to goal, and then runs around to receive the return himself and force Guzan into a save. This is the Bulgarian at his sensual best. 35 min So what now for Villa? Well, substitutions probably. Paul Lambert made three changes all at once an hour into their recent away game at West Brom and quickly turned a 2-0 deficit into a 2-2 draw. Bacuna might want to get somebody to go and turn the taps on now - he's been responsible for both goals. 32 min Could easily be 2-1. Great little flick in behind the Fulham defence from Benteke has Delph racing into space in the area and he lashes a devilish low ball through the goal mouth and out the other side with nobody on hand to touch the ball home. FULHAM 2 Aston Villa 0 (Dimitar Berbatov penalty 29 min) Dimitar Berbatov, booed by a section of the crowd on Wednesday night amid reports that he wants out of the club, creates and scores the second. A wonderful, first time, volleyed pass with the outside of his boot gets Kacaniklic racing away into the area where he collapses under minimal contact from Bacuna. Mike Dean says penalty. Berbatov's kick is so casual it has most inside Craven Cottage actually believing he's rolled it past the post. Of course, he hasn't, and it's now 2-0. 28 min Seven game loosing runs don't do much for the nerves. Another harsh free kick awarded against Karagouinis is lofted to the back post, nodded across goal by Herd and Sidwell takes an easy catch away from his keeper and heads a foot wide of his own post. 27 min Fabian Delph doesn't seem to fancy next week's home match with Manchester United. On four bookings for the season he's already been lucky to avoid a suspension-triggering fifth with a bad foul earlier in the game, and now he's shoved Aaron Hughes into the back of the Fulham net when trying to race onto a cross at the end of another Villa counter attack. 24 min Here's a decision for our referee this afternoon Mike Dean. Herd steams through Karagounis with a forearm smash to win a header and clear down the field. The Greek veteran is laid out on the turf in a lot of pain. It's a strange one, possibly accidental with both players having eyes only for the ball. After prolonged treatment for the Fulham man Dean decides it's an Aston Villa free kick. FULHAM 1 Aston Villa 0 (Steve Sidwell 20 min) Been coming. Berbatov is at the heart of an intricate move on the edge of the Villa box but the pass behind the defence for Sidwell appears, initially, to have been overhit. With Guzan and Bacuna seemingly believing it's going to run out for a goal kick Steve Sidwell is rewarded for his persistence with a goal, scooped into the unguarded net, over Guzan, from an acute angle. Inflatable clapping sticks at the ready, it's a big moment for Fulham. 17 min Farce. One long ball down the middle catches Villa cold and suddenly Dejagah is all alone and totally free in the penalty box with the ball at his feet. He hasn't got the moves though (sorry) and Clark gets back at him with a super recovery tackle. To the faint strains of circus music the ball then bounces around the Villa penalty area with Guzan chasing after it, Kacaniklic has one shot blocked and then he and Sidwell rather get in each other's way and when a shot is finally unloaded it's hacked off the line. 15 min Another lucky escape. Senderos momentarily forgets who he is and tries to play out from the back, conceding possession to Fabian Delph in the process. The former Leeds junior quickly seeks out Benteke who works an angle for the shot and draws a very tidy save from Stekelenburg down in the bottom left hand goal. 11 min And there's the danger for Fulham: comfortably dominant for the first ten minutes of the game and then suddenly besieged by Villa shirts rushing forward from all over the place. Agbonlahor makes the most of a slip by Riether to cross for Benteke who heads wide from eight yards out when he should at least have found the target. 7 min Karagounis almost has Berbatov in behind with a chipped pass, then the Bulgarian falls theatrically in the area while attacking a cross at the near post. No penalty for that, and no goal for Dejagah either who collects the ball at the far stick and lashes a shot at goal that's deflected wide. The corner is met well in the air by Senderos but Villa keeper Brad Guzan flings himself high into his top corner and claws the ball out with an improbable, spectacular save. 6 min Very much on-message at the moment this game. Fulham able to keep possession for long periods of time in the Villa half but struggling to break down the visiting defence, while Paul Lambert's side quickly commit three strikers to a counter attack when they do get the ball back. 3 min Fulham's first chance to put some quality ball into the Villa box comes with a long throw from John Arne Riise, but it turns out John Arne Riise doesn't have a long throw and Villa are therefore able to deal with that "danger" very comfortably indeed. 1 min <RonAtkinsonMode> Philippe Senderos has put a reducer on Christian Benteke early doors. </RonAtkinsonMode> Free kick on half way with the giant Belgian left in a heap on the ground. 13.30 Wait for it, wait for it.... Football. 13.27 Kick off imminent, once the teams have gone through the vitally important rigmarole of walking all the way to the other side of the pitch and then shaking hands with everybody in the interests of sporting behaviour. Then they can get on with the important business of diving over each other looking for penalties and free kicks. Quick blast of Faithless' Insomnia to help pass the time. 13.25 The teams are in the tunnel - or rather, they're hanging about in that strange little gap between the stands at Craven Cottage getting cold. 13.15 Aston Villa are making for awkward dinner guests this season, with three wins on other grounds already and only a single defeat on their travels. They have taken 12 points from their away games, compared to just seven at Villa Park, and only Arsenal have conceded fewer goals on the road than Paul Lambert's side. It's a record made all the more remarkable by the way they're going about it - mainly without possession of the ball. Southampton held a remarkable 78% of the ball and had 21 shots on the goal on Wednesday night only to be caught out by three goals from Villa's only three shots on target in the entire game. That 3-2 win lifted Villa, who struggled for so much of last season, to the dizzying heights of tenth. Villa boss Paul Lambert: "We've been on a terrific run, five unbeaten away from home, we had a tough game midweek at Southampton and we came away unscathed. I thought when Benteke came on he looked like his old self. There's no criticism, everybody has dips in their career. Fulham's new manager René Meulensteen on the importance of continuing the improvements showed in a narrow midweek defeat by Spurs: "There's no use putting a performance out like we did on Wednesday and not living up to it. I want to reinviogorate the team and make sure there is much more in them than they have shown in the last few weeks. Any performance will come from hard work and commitment first and foremost so that's what I put the emphasis on. 13.05 So that's one change for Fulham who drop Kasami to the bench and start with Steve Sidwell in midfield instead. Villa meanwhile hand a first start of the season to Chris Herd in defence. Christian Benteke is recalled after being left out of the midweek win at Southampton. 13.00 Hello, good morning (it still is, let's be honest), and welcome to the first instalment of Super Duper Sunday as the Premier League reaches its crucial fifteenth round of the season. We have tenth placed Aston Villa travelling to struggling Fulham up first, and the teams will line up like this.... Fulham: Stekelenburg; Riether, Hughes, Senderos, Riise; Parker, Karagounis, Sidwell; Dejagah, Kačaniklić; Berbatov. Subs: Stockdale, Zverotic, Richardson, Kasami, Duff, Ruiz, Christensen Villa: Guzan; Herd, Baker, Clark, Bacuna; El Ahmadi, Delph, Westwood; Agbonlahor, Weimann, Benteke. Subs: Steer, Lowton, Helenius, Albrighton, Bowery, Sylla, Tonev Fulham v Aston Villa Sunday December 8, 2013 Craven Cottage Kick-off: 13.30 GMT. Referee: Mike Dean (Merseyside) Team News Brede Hangeland will miss six weeks' action after surgery to correct a nerve problem in his right leg. Home advantage may not be applicable at Craven Cottage.