Roy Keane and Adrian Durham were just two of the many pundits left exasperated by Fulham’s defending against Aston Villa when they dropped to a 3-0 loss.
The Whites secured an immediate return to the Premier League, with a final play-off victory over Brentford, but it would not be a surprise to see Scott Parker’s side go straight back down at this point.
As John McGinn found Captain Jack Grealish unmarked in the box with a simple ball over the top, Villa cut the Londoners apart in just four minutes at Craven Cottage.
When Grealish dropped gloriously into the hands of Conor Hourihane with the Scotland international down the left-hand side and his easy lay-off in the net, McGinn was at it again 11 minutes later.
At half time, Parker looked like a desolate soul, but just two minutes after the restart, the former England captain had his suffering compounded.
Tyrone Mings was left unmarked to slip the ball past the desperate Alphonse Areola on the Thames for the third time from a wide, swinging free-kick.
On the game’s commentary duty was Roy Keane and could not believe that Fulham made the guests ‘look like Bayern Munich’.
And talkSPORT’s very own Adrian Durham reacted in equal amounts of skepticism to Villa legend Gabriel Agbonlahor.
Fulham had a goal ruled out by VAR in the second half, with Aleksandr Mitrovic adjudged to have fouled Ezri Konsa in the build-up before, after an Emiliano Martinez error, Bobby Decordova-Reid put the ball into the back of the net.
Parker will certainly look to dive into the transfer market until it shuts down for defensive reinforcements on October 5 after conceding seven goals in the top flight from their first two fixtures.
Meanwhile, Dean Smith and his understandably jubilant players will travel back to the Midlands, with three points, three goals, and a clean sheet.
It was a reasonably perfect evening for the Villans, with new signings Bertrand Traore and Ollie Watkins grabbing vital minutes on the pitch together as well. Champions Liverpool is next up for them.
Fulham 0 – 3 Aston Villa
Goals: 0-1 Grealish 11′, 0-2 Hourihane 15′, 0-3 Mings 48′
Yellow cards: Reid (F), Cairney (F), Bryan (F), Odoi (F), Le Merchand (F), Kamara (F); Targett (A), McGinn (A), Mings (A)
Fulham: Areola, Ream, Hector/La Merchand 58′, Odoi, Bryan, Cairney, Zambo Anguissa, Tete/Kamara 39′, Cavaleiro, Mitrovic, Reid/Kebano 78′
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett, McGinn, Luiz/Nakamba 87′, Hourihane/Ramsey 77′, Trezeguet/Traore 84′, Watkins, Grealish
