West Ham go fifth after pulsating win over Villa

Published on: 30 November 2020

Jarrod Bowen has been involved in 10 goals for West Ham since his January move from Hull City (five goals and five assists)

West Ham moved fifth in the Premier League with victory over Aston Villa in a pulsating match at London Stadium.

Villa's Ollie Watkins was denied a stoppage-time equaliser after an agonising VAR wait deemed his upper arm was offside, even though he seemed to be being held back by Hammers defender Angelo Ogbonna.

The former Brentford man also hit the bar with a penalty as the spirited visitors pressed for the leveller their play more than deserved.

David Moyes has quietly established the Hammers as an effective outfit this season and they got off to the perfect start when Ogbonna buried a header past Emiliano Martinez inside the first two minutes.

Villa had won all three of their previous away games and seized control of the first half after that, Jack Grealish whipping an equaliser past Lukasz Fabianski from distance.

But Moyes rang the changes at half-time and it paid immediate dividends as substitute Said Benrahma set up Jarrod Bowen for a delightfully deft header immediately after the restart to retake the lead.

Villa had plenty of chances to draw level but were left to rue Watkins' profligacy and VAR's ruling.

West Ham, meanwhile, gratefully took the win to move to within four points of Tottenham and the Premier League summit.

West Ham's fine form

When West Ham were handsomely beaten by Newcastle on the opening day, the script was seemingly set for another season scrapping at the bottom of the Premier League.

But since that defeat, the Hammers have thumped Leicester City and Wolves, drawn with Man City and Tottenham and accrued their highest points total after 10 games in nine years.

Moyes's teams are always built on firm foundations and the back three of Ogbonna, Fabian Balbuena and Aaron Cresswell, shielded by Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek, have been rock solid.

Indeed, only Tottenham and Chelsea have conceded fewer in the league than West Ham.

And they carry a threat from set-pieces too, no more evident than when Ogbonna towered above Matt Targett to open the scoring from Bowen's corner.

Angelo Ogbonna's opener (one minute and 50 seconds) was West Ham's fastest Premier League goal in four years

They surrendered the initiative in the first half but Moyes showed his nous to change it, bringing on Sebastien Haller and Benrahma at half-time, and he was instantly rewarded with the winning goal.

They rode their luck, not least with Villa's missed penalty and disallowed goal, but they took their chances and held on.

West Ham may have been written off earlier this season but Moyes has previous with taking unfancied sides into the upper echelons of the league.

With the Hammers sitting in the European places after 10 games, Moyes's stock is rising once again.

Frustration for slick Villa

Dean Smith's side have been a difficult team to predict this season - three wins out of three on the road before this one but flaky at home.

They destroyed champions Liverpool but shipped goals in underwhelming defeats to Leeds, Southampton and Brighton.

They were also caught cold in the opening exchanges of each half here, two simple headers breaching their backline and undoing their good work going forward.

In Grealish, though, they had the game's outstanding player and he deservedly hauled his side level with a trademark classy finish from outside the box midway through the first half.

His quick footwork was a constant threat but unusually he was let down by his supporting cast as Watkins not only missed from the spot but headed over another presentable opportunity.

Ollie Watkins has failed to convert four of his six penalties taken in English league football, scoring once for both Aston Villa and Brentford while failing once for the Villans and three times for the Bees

Villa controlled the majority of the play but were not ruthless enough in either box to turn their dominance into points.

When Watkins tucked home in injury time, it seemed they had salvaged a point only for VAR to intervene and leave Smith counting the cost of those missed chances.

'Not thinking about VAR' - what they said

West Ham boss David Moyes: "Our performance was not very good. We showed resilience to get the three points as Aston Villa made it really difficult for us.

"I don't want us to play badly, I want us to play well but the team have been excellent generally. The small things went for us tonight, we'll take that and move on."

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith: "I'm disappointed with the result but I thought we were great tonight. We've had enough chances to win the game and that's why it hurts so much.

"They've given the decision offside for his arm but the only reason his arm is there is that he's being fouled. If it's not a goal it should have been a penalty.

"I won't go home thinking about VAR. It frustrates everyone but there's nothing we can do about it."

Consistent team selection - the stats

    West Ham have won three consecutive Premier League games for the first time since May 2019, while they have lost just one of their last eight (W5 D2) after losing the two directly before thatAston Villa have lost four of their last five top-flight games (W1), after enjoying an unbeaten run of eight games before that (W6 D2)West Ham became the first side to score in the opening two minutes of the first and second half in a single Premier League game since Man City against Fulham in September 2018A divisional-high five of Aston Villa's Premier League goals this season have come from outside the box (Grealish two, Barkley two and McGinn one)These two sides have made fewer changes to their starting XIs than any other teams in the Premier League this season (Aston Villa four, West Ham five)Aston Villa playmaker Jack Grealish has been directly involved in 10 goals in the Premier League this season (five goals, five assists), a haul only Spurs pair Harry Kane (16) and Son Heung-Min (11) can better

What's next?

West Ham will welcome 2,000 fans into London Stadium for the visit of Manchester United next Saturday (17:30 GMT). Aston Villa will hope to bounce back with a home game against Newcastle United on Friday (20:00 GMT).

Player of the match

OgbonnaAngelo Ogbonna

with an average of 7.37

    West HamWest Ham UnitedWest Ham UnitedAston VillaAston VillaAston Villa

West Ham UnitedAvgSquad number21Player nameOgbonnaAverage rating

7.37

Squad number20Player nameBowenAverage rating

7.36

Squad number1Player nameFabianskiAverage rating

7.32

Squad number9Player nameBenrahmaAverage rating

7.07

Squad number3Player nameCresswellAverage rating

6.90

Squad number4Player nameBalbuenaAverage rating

6.85

Squad number5Player nameCoufalAverage rating

6.83

Squad number41Player nameRiceAverage rating

6.80

Squad number28Player nameSoucekAverage rating

6.73

Squad number18Player nameFornalsAverage rating

6.63

Squad number22Player nameHallerAverage rating

6.52

Squad number16Player nameNobleAverage rating

6.39

Squad number26Player nameMasuakuAverage rating

6.33

Squad number30Player nameAntonioAverage rating

6.28

Aston VillaAvgSquad number10Player nameGrealishAverage rating

6.84

Squad number6Player nameDouglas LuizAverage rating

5.28

Squad number7Player nameMcGinnAverage rating

5.21

Squad number26Player nameMartínezAverage rating

5.06

Squad number11Player nameWatkinsAverage rating

4.99

Squad number4Player nameKonsaAverage rating

4.96

Squad number2Player nameCashAverage rating

4.88

Squad number14Player nameHourihaneAverage rating

4.86

Squad number5Player nameMingsAverage rating

4.76

Squad number18Player nameTargettAverage rating

4.74

Squad number15Player nameTraoréAverage rating

4.71

Squad number17Player nameTrézéguetAverage rating

4.47

Squad number27Player nameAhmed El MohamadyAverage rating

4.14

Squad number21Player nameEl GhaziAverage rating

4.06

    Line-upsMatch StatsLive Text

Line-upsWest Ham

    1Fabianski4Balbuena21Ogbonna3Cresswell5Coufal41Rice28Soucek26MasuakuSubstituted forBenrahmaat 45'minutes20BowenSubstituted forNobleat 79'minutes18FornalsBooked at 53mins30AntonioSubstituted forHallerat 45'minutes

Substitutes

    9Benrahma10Lanzini16Noble22Haller23Diop31Johnson35Randolph

Aston Villa

    26Martínez2CashBooked at 67minsSubstituted forEl Mohamadyat 88'minutes4Konsa5Mings18Targett7McGinn6Douglas Luiz14HourihaneSubstituted forTraoréat 74'minutes17TrézéguetSubstituted forEl Ghaziat 74'minutes11Watkins10Grealish

Substitutes

    3Taylor12Steer15Traoré19Nakamba21El Ghazi27El Mohamady41Ramsey

Referee:Peter BankesMatch StatsHome TeamWest HamAway TeamAston VillaPossessionHome34%Away66%ShotsHome6Away16Shots on TargetHome2Away6CornersHome3Away7FoulsHome20Away7Live TextPost update

Match ends, West Ham United 2, Aston Villa 1.

90'+8'Full Time

Second Half ends, West Ham United 2, Aston Villa 1.

90'+2'Post update

VAR Decision: No Goal West Ham United 2-1 Aston Villa.

90'+1'Post update

GOAL OVERTURNED BY VAR: Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) scores but the goal is ruled out after a VAR review.

90'+1'Post update

Offside, Aston Villa. Matt Targett tries a through ball, but Ollie Watkins is caught offside.

89'Post update

Attempt saved. Bertrand Traoré (Aston Villa) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jack Grealish.

88'Post update

Ezri Konsa Ngoyo (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

88'Post update

Foul by Sébastien Haller (West Ham United).

88'Substitution

Substitution, Aston Villa. Ahmed El Mohamady replaces Matthew Cash.

87'Post update

Corner, Aston Villa. Conceded by Declan Rice.

87'Post update

Attempt blocked. Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Matt Targett.

86'Post update

John McGinn (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

86'Post update

Foul by Sébastien Haller (West Ham United).

81'Post update

Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

81'Post update

Foul by Pablo Fornals (West Ham United).

79'Substitution

Substitution, West Ham United. Mark Noble replaces Jarrod Bowen.

77'Post update

Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) wins a free kick on the left wing.

77'Post update

Foul by Fabián Balbuena (West Ham United).

77'Post update

Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

77'Post update

Foul by Tomas Soucek (West Ham United).

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Source: bbc.com

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