VILLA BUS PARKED
West Ham 1 Aston Villa 1
For a game that West Ham have to win, the team selection looks tired. Danny Ings had twenty exhilarating minutes against Nottingham Forest here a fortnight ago, but is he capable of raising the ire necessary to pocket goals against his old club? Or is a more zen approach to this problem something he should consider?
These are testing times for a beleaguered West Ham United side who continue to struggle in what is an occasionally bewildering league. Liverpool beat Manchester United 7-0 last Sunday, but yesterday lost 1-0 to Bournemouth and missed a penalty into the bargain.
It is a league in which results have conspired to allow a draw against this afternoon’s opponents sufficient to temporarily drag West Ham out of the relegation zone, albeit merely on goal difference. But a win would elevate them to the heady status of fourteenth position – which you would imagine to be a great motivating force against securing the alternative.
The first fifteen minutes elapse in a heartbeat. Can the Hammers go through a whole PL season not scoring in the opening third of the first half? Worse is to come, for in the 17th minute, and in their first attack of the game, Aston Villa take the lead. Moreno breaks down the left and puts a decent cross in which Ollie Watkins heads into the ground, the bounce taking the ball over Ariola’s despairing dive. And West Ham are back in the relegation zone with Leeds, Bournemouth and Leicester ahead of them. All of these teams, as well as bottom-placed Southampton, still have yet to face the Hammers. And these are the straws that we clutch at in desperation at times like these.
And yet, just seven minutes later, the lifeline is upon us. Paquetá’s effort is cleared off the line by goalscorer Ollie Watkins and while screams abound that the ball crossed the line, Paquetá picks up the rebound only to be floored by Leon Bailey. Penalty! And the cursory study of VAR for goal (no) and foul (yes) shows the referee was correct. No Lanzini, so the penalty responsibility reverts to Benrahma, who dispatches the spot kick high into the net, past the World Cup winning goalkeeper!
Just five minutes later Ings is floored by Buendia, seemingly under the referee’s noise, but no penalty and no booking for Ings either. At the other end Ariola makes a point blank save against Watkins and the relief around the stadium is palpable.
The second half is peppered with chances for the Hammers, especially after the introduction of Fornals, who scoops the first of these frustratingly over the bar from almost under the crossbar. Benrahma is the star of the show but though he has countless numbers of efforts on goal, he is unable to hit the target, twice because of last minute blocks and deflections that deny him and West Ham a second. Cornet is brought on instead of Scamacca offering pace but none of the brutal penetrative force of Scamacca. When Paquetá is substituted he heads off hurriedly for a toilet break, and his speedy departure is mistaken for petulance by a crowd as frustrated as he is.
This was a home game that the Hammers would on any other day have been expected to win, especially as Aston Villa are the only side in the Premier League that West Ham have managed to beat away from home.
Now no more games until next month thanks to the international weekend and a makes-no-difference postponed fixture away from home at. Manchester City. Next month starts with the whirl of two home games against Newcastle United and Southampton and another chance to quickly make a bad season better.
13 Alphonse Ariola, 3 Emerson, 4 Kurt Zouma, 24 Thilo Kehrer, 41 Declan Rice (captain), 27 Nayef Aguerd, 28 Tomas Souček, 11 Lucas Paquetá, 18 Danny Ings, 20 Jarrod Bowen, 22 Saïd Benrahma
Substitutes: 8 Pablo Fornals, 14 Maxwell Cornet
Goalscorer: Saïd Behrama
