Youri Tielemans headed the only goal as Aston Villa beat Fulham 1-0 on Saturday to boost their hopes of finishing in the Premier League's top five and qualifying for the Champions League.
The Belgian midfielder, Villa's stand-out performer, powered in John McGinn's 12th-minute corner.
Tielemans almost set up a second goal for Ollie Watkins and was narrowly wide with a superb curling effort on the stroke of halftime as Villa returned to winning ways.
Donyell Malen struck the underside of the crossbar in stoppage time for Villa but one goal proved enough.
Villa remained in seventh place with three games left but they are now level on 60 points with Nottingham Forest and Chelsea, both of whom have an extra game to play.
Defeat was a big blow to eighth-placed Fulham's own European hopes. They have 51 points from 35 games but could drop lower depending on other results this weekend.
Aston Villa's season has been full of promise but it was beginning to unravel after defeats in the Champions League quarter-finals and FA Cup semis last month.
It was by no means a vintage Villa show but Unai Emery's side ground out the win to increase the pressure on the sides directly above them in the standings.
Their remaining fixtures are away at Bournemouth, at home to Tottenham Hotspur and away to Manchester United.
"All our games, we know we have to win them to have a chance to be in the Champions League next season," Tielemans said.
"This afternoon was a good win. A tough opponent, Fulham are a very good team. We could have finished the game earlier, but credit to the guys."