Football
West Ham took a beating from Aston Villa
West Ham, with Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal in the starting line-up, failed in their first game after the October break and fell to Aston Villa 1:4. The Villans continue their great run and are two points behind first placed Manchester City.
West Ham failed to win their first game after the October break and fell 1:4 to Aston Villa. Villans continue their great run and are two points behind the first placed Manchester City.
West Ham threatened in the first minute, but Jarrod Bowen’s great chance was preceded by an offside. On the other side, Douglas Luiz shot from outside the box, but Alphonse Areola headed it out for a corner.
From the ensuing standard situation, Ezri Konsa headed just wide of the target. In the 16th minute, Ollie Watkins had a good chance with his right foot but missed the left post.
After that, the home side were the primary active team, culminating in the 30th minute. Douglas Luiz took the ball on the edge of the box and sent it to the left post – 1: 0. In the last quarter of an hour, West Ham tried harder, but did not create any dangerous action in front of the opponent’s goal.
The first half, played at a high tempo, ended with the home side in the lead. Unaie Emery’s charges had the ball on their feet 62% of the time and sent 10 shots at the opponents, 4 of which were aimed directly at the goal, compared to one attempt by the Hammers.
After an exchange of sides, an active pressing brought an early penalty for Aston Villa after Edson Álvarez was fouled in the whitewash. Luiz took the ball and added his second shot of the game.
However, West Ham reduced the arrears in the 56th minute. Bowen’s shot was knocked into his own net by Pau Torres. Nayef Aguerd had the equaliser eight minutes later, but a great block was converted by Matty Cash.
But in the 74th minute the home side celebrated again, Watkins giving Areola no chance with a shot under the crossbar. This goal is definitely worth watching!
West Ham looked resigned after that, the most dangerous was ironically a blocked centre by Bowen, which ended up on the top of the net.
On the other hand, Leon Bailey came through at the other end to make it 4-1. Aston Villa jumped to fifth place after the big win, West Ham are five points behind in ninth place.
Another big win for Emery, only three teams in the Premier League – Manchester City (84 points), Arsenal (74 points) and Liverpool (71 points) – have scored more points since he arrived at Aston Villa (68 points).
Source: Canal+ Sport, Twitter
