Aston Villa secured a superb 4-1 win over West Ham on Sunday, as we made it 11 consecutive home league wins with another top performance.
Goals from Douglas Luiz [x2], Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey sealed the three points, with the victory moving us back up to fifth place in the Premier League table, just two points adrift of the current leaders.
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Villa were excellent for the most part in adopting a measured and patient approach to control proceedings, but there was a spell after West Ham’s goal where we looked a little shaky and lacked composure.
Fortunately though, we produced quality at a crucial moment to restore our confidence and calmness, and that in turn allowed us to go on and secure a deserved win to start positively after the international break.
Aston Villa player ratings vs West Ham:
Emiliano Martinez, 7 – Little he could have done for the goal having been beaten by an unfortunate deflection. That aside, commanded his box well when needed and alert to danger when it was posed.
Matty Cash, 8 – Excellent performance as he was aggressive and on the front-foot with his defending and was always a willing runner up the right side to provide width and an attacking outlet. More composed and showing better technical quality in possession too.
Ezri Konsa, 8.5 – Defensively brilliant, as he dealt with West Ham’s attacking threat well throughout, and he even got forward to win our penalty for the second goal in a key moment in the game.
Pau Torres, 8 – Wayward with his passing at times, but that was levelled out with some wonderful distribution too. Had his hands full with the pace and power up top for West Ham, but did well in that scrap for the most part.
Lucas Digne, 8 – Another top display as he showed a lot of energy to cover plenty of ground down our left flank, delivering dangerous crosses into the box to try and find a breakthrough while defending resolutely when needed too.
John McGinn, 8 – Great pass to find Watkins for our third in a crucial turning point in the game, and showed great work ethic, tactical intelligence and desire to move across the midfield and carry out Emery’s instructions to play narrow in differing positions and roles on the pitch.
Boubacar Kamara, 8 – Did well to give us presence in the midfield battle out of possession, while drifting into a deeper role on the right side with the ball to give us balance and rhythm in our build-up play from the back.
Douglas Luiz, 9 – Continued his fine goalscoring form with a great strike for the first and a superb penalty for his second. Beyond the goals though, he continues to dictate, control and set the tempo and rhythm of our play in possession as the heartbeat of the side.
Nicolò Zaniolo, 7.5 – Still missing that end product whether it be an assist or a goal, and that will hopefully come soon and get him going through the gears. However, still a little wasteful in key situations where he must be more decisive, but is still an important and functional part of how we want to play.
Moussa Diaby, 8 – Excellent movement and pace off the ball to stretch the West Ham defence and cause them problems when we played on the counter. Will be frustrated that he couldn’t be more heavily involved with a decisive impact, but continues to play a fundamental role in our attack.
Ollie Watkins, 8.5 – Missed a big chance early on but put that behind him to rifle in a stunning goal in a pivotal moment in the encounter. It came as West Ham were starting to get the upper hand and put us under pressure at 2-1, and it’s fundamental that our big players like Watkins produce big moments to turn the tide and seal wins.
Substitutes:
Leon Bailey, 8 – Took his goal brilliantly as he showed great skill to create space for his shot and buried his chance. Hopefully that can kick-start a good run of form from him now.
Youri Tielemans, N/A – Great pass into Bailey for his goal as he settled things in the latter stages with his calmness and composure on the ball.
