Aston Villa 1 West Ham 4 - Report

Ben Johnson opened the scoring early for the Hammers and though Ollie Watkins levelled for Villa, Declan Rice restored the visitors’ advantage before the break.

The hosts then saw Ezri Konsa sent-off after a controversial VAR review, with late goals from Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen piling on the misery for Dean Smith.

Villa now sit 15th in the table having conceded 12 goals in their last four matches.

Analysis

Smith had described Villa’s recent form as “nowhere near a disaster” but this performance as about as close to a disaster as it is possible to get.

Having made one of the biggest calls of his tenure to date by dropping skipper Tyrone Mings, the head coach needed things to go right but instead nearly everything went wrong.

Villa lost Jacob Ramsey early to injury with his replacement, Ashley Young, struggling in midfield.

The visitors, who looked a cut above throughout, deservedly led at the break. Konsa’s dismissal then gave Villa a mountain to climb and was controversial, with Kortney Hause fortunate not to see red earlier in the move after catching Fornals with a swinging arm.

Villa were furious Fornals was not dismissed for a lunge on Marvelous Nakamba, the Spaniard adding insult to injury when he poked home the third.

But questionable though many of referee Chris Kavanagh’s calls were, they were not the chief reason behind Villa’s defeat.

Villa’s team news was significant, the decision to drop Mings ranking among the biggest of Smith’s three-year tenure.

Hause replaced the skipper as Villa reverted to a back four and with Danny Ings and Douglas Luiz unavailable through injury, Marvelous Nakamba and Jacob Ramsey were restored to the line-up. The other change saw Leon Bailey handed a first Premier League start in place of Axel Tuanzebe, who joined Mings on the bench.

Smith had spoken in the week of his team needing to deliver a response to their Arsenal no-show but once again they were slow out of the blocks and behind inside seven minutes.

Johnson’s strike, with his weaker left foot, was impressive but from Villa’s point of view the full-back was afforded too much space by Matt Targett after cutting in off the wing, while Bailey’s attempted block on the shot left much to be desired.

Things got worse when Ramsey was then forced off after 15 minutes having twisted his ankle off the ball. Soon after it needed an excellent block from Cash to prevent Jarrod Bowen doubling West Ham’s lead.

Villa were struggling to find any rhythm in attack, looked vulnerable at the back and their equaliser on 34 minutes came from their first real moments of quality.

John McGinn’s reverse pass found Buendia in space down the right and he jinked his way past Pablo Fornals before pulling the ball back for Watkins to fire home his second of the season, Lukasz Fabianksi getting a foot to the shot but being unable to keep it out.

Watkins raced to get the ball out of the net but Villa were unable to build on the leveller, with parity lasting only four minutes. Just as Johnston had earlier, Rice was afforded too much space to shoot from 25 yards and his effort went past an unsighted Martinez and in off the post.

Villa might have been level by the break had McGinn been able to direct his header from a Targett cross on target.

But again they went in behind and the afternoon got worse soon after the restart as for the second game running a Villa match became embroiled in VAR controversy and confusion.

A West Ham break, after Ashley Young had lost possession, ended with Konsa pulling down Bowen on the edge of the box and being shown a yellow card.

After video assistant Stuart Attwell decided Kortney Hause should not be dismissed for catching Fornals with a swinging arm earlier in the move, he suggested Kavanagh rewatch the Konsa challenge, which resulted in yellow being upgraded to red with the Villa defender deemed to have denied a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Smith introduced Mings in place of Buendia and a man down Villa actually started to improve and were inches from drawing level when Fabianksi turned Watkins’ header onto the bar.

West Ham were prepared to stay patient and wait for their chances. Rice was denied a second when Martinez got down low to save his free-kick.

Villa were coping about as well as they could and as the game approached the final 10 minutes came more controversy. Fornals caught Nakamba late and recklessly but Kavanagh deemed the challenge only worthy of a yellow, while both McGinn and Bowen were booked after sparking a melee.

With Smith fuming on the touchline, it was Fornals who tapped home the visitors third after Martinez had saved impressively from Bowen.

There was still time for the latter to get his goal with six minutes to go, when he converted a Manuel Lanzini pass.

Key Moments

7 GOAL A nightmare start for Villa as Ben Johnson is afforded time to cut inside and fire a left-footed shot into the bottom corner.

34 GOAL Villa level. Emi Buendia pulls the ball back for Ollie Watkins to drill home his second goal of the season.

38 GOAL West Ham back ahead. Declan Rice’s shot from distance beats an unsighted Emi Martinez and goes in off the post.

53 RED CARD Ezri Konsa is dismissed after a VAR check, having been deemed to have denied a clear goalscoring opportunity when he pulled down Jarrod Bowen.

81 GOAL Pablo Fornals makes the game safe for the visitors, tapping home after Martinez saves from Bowen.

84 GOAL Things get worse for Villa. Bowen taps home Lanzini’s pass after Antonio outmuscles Hause.

Teams

Villa (4-3-3): Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Hause, Targett, McGinn, Ramsey J (Young 15), Buendia (Mings 53), Watkins, Bailey (El Ghazi 72) Subs not used: Tuanzebe, Chukwuemeka, Davis, Archer, Ramsey A, Steer (gk).

West Ham (4-2-3-1): Fabianski, Johnson, Zouma, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice (c), Soucek, Bowen, Fornals, Benrahma (Lanzini 64), Antonio Subs not used: Coufal, Yarmolenko, Vlasic, Dawson, Noble, Diop, Masuaku, Areola (gk).