Harley stunner stings Villains

Fulham 2 Aston Villa 1

Jon Harley smashed home a 25-yard thunderbolt - his first goal for Fulham - to clinch this 2-1 victory against Aston Villa at Loftus Road.

The 23-year-old left-back's strike in the 35th minute bamboozled Peter Enckelman and dipped beneath Villa's crossbar, securing three vital points to haul the Cottagers away from the drop zone.

Harley has surprisingly been overlooked by Jean Tigana since his £3.5million arrival from Chelsea 18 months ago - but Rufus Brevett's sale to West Ham gave him his first league appearance of the season against Arsenal last Saturday.

Gareth Barry had given Villa a sensational start in the second minute. Dion Dublin teed up Barry lurking just inside the Fulham box and he beat Maik Taylor with a cool finish.

But that strike was levelled by Steed Malbranque's penalty - his sixth goal in four games - 11 minutes later, awarded when Luis Boa Morte threw himself to the ground after being clipped by Joey Gudjonsson.

Boa Morte's theatrical and unnecessary tumble was his only negative contribution of a fantastic first half, in which he terrorised the Villa backline with his searing pace.

Fulham's misfiring strike pair Steve Marlet and Louis Saha both somehow missed from a yard before Harley showed them how it was done 10 minutes before the interval.

Villa wilted badly after their sparkling start to the game and did not deserve to follow up their shock 5-2 success at Middlesbrough - their first on the road in the league this season - with another three-point haul in west London.