Aston Villa were held to a 1-1 draw at Villa Park on Saturday evening, with a costly goalkeeping error from Zion Suzuki cancelling out what had been a deserved lead — allowing Fulham to leave with a point they might not have expected.

The match was shaped by two defining moments: John McGinn's missed penalty and Suzuki's calamitous fumble from an Alex Iwobi corner in the 65th minute.

McGinn misses the target from the spot

Villa were awarded a penalty in the 14th minute after a VAR review confirmed that Sander Berge had handled the ball inside the area while challenging Leon Goretzka at a corner. With Emi Buendia and Ross Barkley absent from the starting lineup, McGinn took responsibility — but the Scotland international, who had only previously taken a penalty for the club in a shoot-out, struck the crossbar with a fierce effort that rebounded clear.

Fulham nearly punished Villa immediately. Oscar Bobb found himself through on goal with only the goalkeeper to beat, but Suzuki produced a stunning one-handed save to tip the ball over and keep the scores level.

Jackson punishes Castagne mistake

Villa did take the lead in the 39th minute, though the goal owed as much to defensive generosity as to attacking quality. Timothy Castagne's error allowed Johan Manzambi to thread a ball through for Nicolas Jackson, who cut inside past David Affengruber, shook off the recovering Castagne, and slid the ball past Bernd Leno into the bottom corner. It was Jackson's eighth goal in 10 Premier League appearances.

The second half brought chances for both sides. Victor Lindelof directed Ian Maatsen's effort goalward only for Leno to produce a sharp reflex save. Suzuki, for his part, was well positioned to divert a Matty Cash ball away from Gonzalo Garcia before stopping an Iwobi header from eight yards.

Suzuki drops a corner over the line

The pivotal moment arrived in the 65th minute. Iwobi swung a corner directly into the six-yard box and Suzuki, inexplicably, allowed the ball to slip through his fingers and bounce over the goal-line before he could recover it. Fulham were level, and Villa had only themselves to blame.

Both sides pushed for a winner late on. Suzuki redeemed himself in part with a low near-post save to deny Antonee Robinson, while at the other end Pau Torres headed wide from 12 yards in stoppage time. The points were shared.