A youthful Fulham outfit fell to defeat in their second Summer Series outing in Florida this evening as goals from Jaden Philogene and new signing Moussa Diaby secured a deserved victory for Aston Villa.

The fixture was delayed by over an hour after lightning strikes in the Orlando area and a sodden playing surface made it difficult for Fulham to play their preferred possession-based football. Marco Silva fielded an unfamiliar back four with Antonee Robinson ruled out due to a knee problem he picked up in Sunday’s win over Brentford and Tosin Adrabioyo still struggling to overcome a groin problem. That meant Kevin Mbabu lined up a left back with Luc de Fougerolles, who was impressive in the win over the Bees, operating at the heart of the back four.

Villa made the early running but Fulham held firm until Cameron Archer sped away from their backline after being brilliantly found by Yuri Tielemans. The young forward darted inside Kenny Tete and was too quick for de Fougerolles, who brought him down as Archer was contemplating beating Bernd Leno. He brushed himself off and stepped forward to take the penalty – only for Bernd Leno to pull off a stunning stop by diving full length to his right to turn the shot onto the base of the post. Archer dragged another event wide as the Whites breathed a massive sigh of relief.

But the Villains were able to make the breakthrough just before half time when Lucas Digne’s cross from the left was rifled home by Philogene, who had left Kevin Mbabu for dead, as he darted from the far post to the middle of the goal. Carlos Vinicius, booked for a tangle with Ezri Konsa, thought he had restored parity with a lovely header from Bobby De Cordova’s ball in, but the offside flag cut short any suggestions.

Vinicius skied a shot early in the second period after being found by Mbabu’s magnificent cross and then saw a looping header drop just wide of goal before Harry Wilson somehow screwed a shot well wide after he latched onto a through ball from Willian. Those misses proved costly when Villa extended their advantage as Diaby drove past Marek Rodak after racing onto a pass from Douglas Luiz to make a dream start to his Aston Villa career.

Luke Harris was twice thwarted by Emi Martenz in the space of a couple of minutes as Fulham finished strongly, with Jay Stansfield’s superb 30-yarder flying fractionally wide. Olly Watkins should have added a third for Villa at the death but Rodak did brilliantly to deny the former Exeter City forward, whilst at the other end, Stansfield spooned a shot over the top under pressure from Seb Raven as Fulham failed to feature on the scoresheet despite a succession of second half chances.

ASTON VILLA (4-4-2): Olsen (Martinez 45); Konsa (Chambes 68), Digne (Revan 62), Diego Carlos (Cash 45), Pau Torres (Mings 62; Kamara (Luiz 45), Tielemens, Philogene (Kellyman 62), Bunedia (Coutinho 62); Archer (Watkins 62), McGinn (Diaby 45). Subs (not used): Marschall, Young.

BOOKED: Philogene, Konsa.

GOALS: Philogene (42), Diaby (73).

FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Leno (Rodak 61); Tete (Odutayo 88), Mbabu, de Fougerolles, Diop (McCoy-Splatt 88); Reed; Willian 61), Lukic (Godo 88); Decordova-Reid (Dibley-Dias 61), Wilson (Amissah 88), Cairney (Harris 69); Vincius (Stansfield 69), Subs (not used): Borto, Parkes.

BOOKED: de Fougerolles, Vinicius.