BRACING DEBUT
Aston Villa 1 West Ham 3
In October Aston Villa beat Liverpool 7-2 at home and Leicester 1-0 away, then lost 0-3 at home to Leeds United the very next game. Now because of a coronavirus infection at the club at the beginning of the year they have only played one home game in 2021, which ended up in a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United. Then there is the fact that West Ham were ludicrously fortunate to take three points off Villa in November with Ollie Watkins’ last minute VARRED no goal. That’s your backdrop, something I wouldn’t ordinarily bother with if I then had to punctuate it with the story of a drab defeat. In any case, none of that really counts tonight, as Moyes wrong foots the fans and Dean Smith by starting with Ryan Fredericks and debut loanee Jesse Lingard. Both look sharp and hungry in the first half as West Ham build up the possession and shots on target stats.
The second half starts rather better for Villa than West Ham, and it’s Jack Cheatish whose eye for a decent pass and diving opportunity threatens West Ham’s established balance from the first half. Finally, though, the talent tells and Benrahma, found by Antonio, feeds Soucek wide on the right for the level-headed Czech genius to thump the ball past Martinez. What’s that about all the Villa keeper’s clean sheets? That’s eight for Soucek this season.
As in the Palace away game script, Michail Antonio seems to do everything but score, his best chance chipped over the keeper from Cresswell’s through ball only for Tyrone Mings to hook it acrobatically off the line with the goal yawning. However it’s his pass that finds Lingard wide on the left for the Warrington-born boy to slam it home for Hammers’ second and his debut goal. WTF? It’s like the Liverpool defeat was just a momentary hiccup.
By the time Grealish wakes from his slumber and moves to the right wing, West Ham have accumulated eight shots on target to Villa’s one, and they’re now looking for a third. But yes, you did read that right. Cheatish awakens from his slumber, and begins to put in some decent runs and crosses. And then comes the pass that bisects Ogbonna and Dawson to find Watkins, who slots home past the over-advanced Fabianski.
No good, though. Really no good. Just two minutes later Lingard bursts through and hits his second, and West Ham’s third, past Martinez, who again lets the ball under his over-athletic dive. Benrahma, still looking for his first West Ham goal, nearly has a fourth when a perfect cross from Coufal picks him out for a straightforward six-yard box volley on his right foot, that he skies.
A great response to the disappointment of Sunday, that will soon render it a fleeting memory, especially as it emerges that Liverpool have just lost 0-1 at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
1 Lucasz Fabianski, 24 Ryan Fredericks, 21 Angelo Ogbonna, 15 Craig Dawson, 3 Aaron Cresswell, 5 Vladimir Coufal, 41 Declan Rice (c), 28 Tomas Souček, 9 Saïd Benrahma, 11 Jesse Lingard, 30 Michael Antonio
Substitutes: 18 Pablo Fornals, 31 Ben Johnson, 20 Jarrod Bowen
Scorers: 28 Tomas Soucek, 11 Jesse Lingard (2)
