Aston Villa secured a 2-1 win over West Ham Utd on Saturday, as we started the new Premier League season with an impressive three points on the road.
Goals from Amadou Onana and Jhon Duran, either side of a Lucas Paqueta penalty, sealed the victory for Unai Emery’s side, and the Villa boss will certainly take a lot of positives away from the performance too.
READ MORE: Villa player ratings vs West Ham: Influential quartet impress as Duran seals win
Villa could, and perhaps should, have been further ahead before the equaliser arrived too had we been more clinical in the final third, and so there will of course be areas that will be highlighted for improvement. That said, against a top side in a difficult away fixture first up to start the new campaign, we can be delighted with the result.
That in turn also sets us up well for an early showdown with Arsenal next weekend, and so it’s hoped we can take the momentum from this win into what will be another difficult challenge.
Amadou Onana a crucial midfield presence
Aside from his goal just four minutes into his debut, Onana produced an excellent performance in the heart of the Villa midfield to give us control in both phases of the game.
His ability to break play up and disrupt West Ham’s rhythm coupled with his accurate distribution to retain possession and move us up the pitch was fundamental in how we were able to both limit West Ham’s threat and hurt them in transition.
In turn, it was a really impressive first look at the Belgian international in competitive action, and he will hopefully address some glaring issues in our midfield, and ultimately team as a whole, as a long-term solution with his physical attributes.
Onana-Tielemans partnership fundamental
Staying on the theme of our midfield, Onana worked really effectively in his partnership with compatriot Youri Tielemans, as the combination of the Belgian duo helped us maintain control, particularly in a very impressive opening 35 minutes to the game.
It not only adds composure and calmness to our play as we probe for openings, but it has the right balance of being tenacious out of possession to break play up, but then also to have the technical quality to break the lines and set the likes of Morgan Rogers away into the final third running directly at the opposition’s defence.
Tielemans was critical in adding a cohesiveness and fluidity to our play against the Hammers, and while teams will work that out and target him to try and stop us from playing, it’s imperative we keep feeding him the ball but balance that with alternative solutions to break teams down.
Depth off the bench now looks very impressive
Villa’s bench stood out ahead of kick-off, as it looked much more experienced, talented and deeper than we’ve seen for some time.
It wasn’t long ago that Emery was naming two goalkeepers on the sidelines every week, while sometimes not even filling the entire bench out.
However, following some smart acquisitions this summer coupled with key players returning from injury, we now have options on the bench that can impact the game if needed, and we saw that with Ian Maatsen, Jacob Ramsey and Jhon Duran linking up for the winning goal.
Emery made it clear this summer that he wanted to build a squad capable of competing on multiple fronts, and we’ve gone for younger, more athletic and more dynamic individuals to help evolve our style of play and become more impactful.
Duran Duran, it had to be him
After all the talk this summer, the fear was that Duran would end up scoring against us in this fixture amid intense speculation that he was potentially set to join the Hammers.
However, the script was slightly different, as the result went in our favour as he came off the bench and bagged the winner to secure all three points for Villa.
His all-round play was excellent in the latter stages as aside from his goal, he showed good movement and desire out of possession to make himself available and be a nuisance for the West Ham defence. It’s hoped his celebration went some way to repairing some of the damage done to his relationship with supporters, but if he continues to make important contributions, works hard and adds consistency to his game, we’ll all be back on side in no time.
Performance to build on, perfect start to new season
While last season proved that a nightmare start to a campaign isn’t the end of the world, it’s always nice to get off to a winning start and build some early confidence and momentum, particularly with all the positivity and optimism around the club.
After an underwhelming pre-season, which created some concern beyond just the results, it was reassuring to see Villa make a convincing start in the Premier League in a tough assignment.
The challenge now will be to follow that up next Saturday against Arsenal, and with the Champions League schedule to consider in the coming months as well as the Carabao Cup, it’s crucial we get points on the board and continue to get key contributions from across the squad as everyone will be needed.