Watch: Steven Gerrard under more pressure as Douglas Luiz gets mindlessly sent off

Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz has made Steven Gerrard's position as manager even more precarious, after the Brazilian got sent off for headbutting Fulham's Aleksandar Mitrovic during their Thursday night game.

With an hour played in the match, an altercation off the ball between Luiz and Mitrovic saw the pair square up to each other. They initially bumped chests, before Luiz decided to make a motion towards the Serbian with his head.

Mitrovic fell to the floor clutching his head, with VAR telling referee Michael Oliver to review the incident on the pitch side monitor. After some technical difficulties, Oliver eventually managed to watch the incident back, and swiftly made his decision.

Luiz was brandished a straight red card for violent conduct, leaving Aston Villa with ten men and a goal down. 

Earlier in the match, in the first half, Harrison Reed had scored a lovely finish into the left side of the Villa goal, after the ball dropped to him from a corner. With the pressure mounting on Gerrard, the last thing he would have wanted was for a player to get sent off for something as mindless as the incident involving Luiz.

Shortly afterwards, Mitrovic earned a corner after striking a ball which Matty Cash was adjudged to have used his hand to block. The striker stepped up for the penalty, dispatching the ball under Emi Martinez in the Villa net, who had seemingly dived too far past the ball to react accordingly. 

In the final ten minutes of the match, Fulham added a third to their total. Neeskens Kebano got past Matty Cash in the box before firing the ball across goal. Tyrone Mings tried getting something in the way, but could do nothing but kick the ball in his own net. 

Aston Villa have accrued just nine points from the opening 11 games of the season, while Fulham are steadily making progress up the league, sitting in ninth in the table.