Aston Villa 4 West Ham 1 - Report
Douglas Luiz scored twice as rampant Villa beat West Ham to earn an 11th consecutive home Premier League victory to go back fifth in the table.
The Brazilian midfielder netted for the sixth straight home league match when he opened the scoring on the half-hour mark.
He then doubled the advantage for Unai Emery’s team from the penalty box after Ezri Konsa had been fouled.
West Ham pulled one back through a deflected Jarrod Bowen effort but Ollie Watkins killed off any hope of a comeback before substitute Leon Bailey made it four late on.
Analysis
That strike took Villa’s home tally to 17 goals in four league matches this season. Emery’s men have won every home league match since March 4, the club’s best run in 40 years. There currently may not be a tougher ground to visit than Villa Park in the country.
The good news for Emery, his players is two of their next three matches are back in front of home supporters. Winless Luton will be the next to run the gauntlet next Sunday. With Villa just two points off the top of the table nine matches in, this season really is shaping up to be something special.
Victory also snapped a rotten recent record for Villa against West Ham and their manager David Moyes. This was Villa's first win over the Hammers in 11 attempts and their first over a team managed by Moyes since 2010.
Nicolo Zaniolo, who spent the international break in the headlines after being quizzed by Italian police investigating illegal betting, started the match but this was a day when his team-mates took the limelight.
After an opening in which both teams saw promising moves break down around 25 yards from goal, Luiz decided to shoot from that distance only to be denied a goal by a brilliant one-handed Alphonse Areola save, the keeper clawing the ball away from the top corner and wide.
Bowen tested Emi Martinez with a similarly opportunistic strike at the other end before the first big chance of the match fell to Watkins.
The striker’s first touch brought Moussa Diaby’s dinked pass under control but as Villa Park rose in anticipation of a goal the second sent the ball wide of the post from just eight yards out. Watkins held his head in his hands, barely able to believe not hitting the target.
Typically, Watkins’ head did not stay down for long and on the half-hour mark he played a key role in Villa taking the lead, collecting a return pass from Zaniolo and laying the ball into the path of Luiz. The midfielder’s shot from the edge of the box took the tiniest flick off Nayef Aguerd but Areola, so superb at denying him earlier, should probably have done better.
Villa threatened to quickly add more but Areola denied Watkins, though the shot might have been going wide. Diaby and John McGinn also sent efforts just off target.
The visitors managed to stem the momentum in the closing stages of the first half but their attacking efforts were rather summed up by an acrobatic Lucas Paqueta effort which posed more of a threat to the corner flag than Martinez’s goal.
Paqueta would play an unwanted part in Villa doubling their lead seven minutes into the second half. His pass back to Alvarez looked risky from the outset and proved disastrous when Konsa nipped in, went down under the challenge and referee David Coote pointed to the spot. Luiz struck his penalty high down the middle for his sixth goal of the season.
For four minutes it looked as though Villa would run away with it. But then Bowen struck a speculative effort from outside the box which hit Torres and span wickedly inside the far post.
Suddenly the game looked different. West Ham pressed forward with renewed confidence, Villa became sloppy. A series of corners were defended in nervy fashion.
It looked set for a nail-biting conclusion until with 16 minutes remaining Watkins restored the two-goal cushion. Having missed when it looked easier to score earlier, this time he drove a powerful left-footed finish inside Areola’s near post after being sent clear by McGinn.
Michail Antonio forced Martinez into a save but the Hammers looked a beaten team and their day got worse when substitutes Youri Tielemans and Bailey combined late on.
Key Moments
30 GOAL Douglas Luiz opens the scoring for Villa, driving home a low shot from the edge of the box.
52 GOAL Luiz doubles Villa’s lead from the penalty spot after Edson Alvarez fells Ezri Konsa.
56 GOAL West Ham have a foothold back in the match as Jarrod Bowen’s shot takes a wicked deflection off Pau Torres and flies inside the far post.
75 GOAL Watkins gives Villa breathing space, firing high inside Areola’s near post.
89 GOAL Substitutes combine to cap another comprehensive Villa win. Youri Tielemans finds Leon Bailey, who fires into the top corner.
Teams
Villa (4-4-2): Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, McGinn, Luiz, Kamara, Zaniolo (Bailey 75), Diaby (Tielemans 85), Watkins Subs not used: Carlos, Traore, Chambers, Lenglet, Dendoncker, Kellyman, Olsen (gk).
West Ham (4-2-3-1): Areola, Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson, Ward-Prowse, Alvarez, Bowen, Soucek (Kudus 67), Paqueta (Ings 86), Antonio (Fornals 90) Subs not used: Mavropanos, Ogbonna, Benrahma, Kehrer, Mubama, Fabianski (gk).
