Aston Villa vs Fulham, Championship play-off final player ratings: Tom Cairney shines at Wembley
We run the rule over the two teams as Fulham return to the Premier League
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Tom Cairney’s first half strike sees ten-man Fulham promoted to the Premier League through the play off for the first time.
Ryan Sessegnon drifted into a central area and slotted the ball to Cairney who drifted behind Alan Hutton and slotted the ball in with a very precise finish from inside the box.
Having been booked in the first half, Denis Odoi made his team defend their lead with ten men for the last 20 minutes when he picked up a second card for a foul on Jack Grealish.
Fulham were perhaps lucky to keep all ten players on the pitch in the first after Ryan Fredericks appeared to tread on Jack Grealish when he was on the ground, but the referee did not see.
Lots of what Villa did well came through Grealish and after the break they looked a much better side.
Grealish almost scored on of the great goals when he wriggled through three challenges with the kind of skill you associate with Lionel Messi or Mohamad Salah. When he got into the box his shot from the left side was saved.
The young Villain became just that when Grealish lunged in on Cairney, and was lucky to just receive a yellow card.
Here’s how we rated the players at Wembley.
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