Aston Villa took a big step towards qualifying for the Champions League with a 2-0 win over relegation-threatened West Ham at Villa Park.
John McGinn’s spot-on finish from 20 yards out put Villa in charge after a dominant first-half performance from Unai Emery’s side, before Ollie Watkins’ poacher-like effort opened the scoring in the second half.
Villa have seen their rivals for Champions League qualification slip down the table, but by becoming the only team in the top six to win this weekend they have increased their lead over fifth-placed Liverpool to five points. It was a big moment in their season after three defeats in the Premier League.
West Ham missed out on a chance to move out of the relegation zone, leaving Nottingham Forest at the top of the table with a three-point lead following their win over Tottenham. Spurs remain one point above the Hammers.
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John McGinn Beauty leads Aston Villa over West Ham in the Premier League
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Ollie Watkins doubles Aston Villa’s lead against West Ham in the Premier League
Villa are too strong for West Ham
West Ham’s Jean-Clair Todibo was sent off in the final stages, and Nuno Espirito Santo changed formation and brought on Freddie Potts. His team struggled to get things going in a one-sided first half and needed an incredible performance from Konstantinos Mavropanos to stay in the game.
The Greek centre-back cleared twice on the line, but was still unable to prevent McGinn’s shot from just outside the box, and Jadon Sancho squared the ball into the corner. Villa have been rejuvenated by their captain’s return from injury.
Moments later, he was standing over the ball at the penalty spot when referee Paul Tierney inexplicably ruled that Mavropanos had fouled Ollie Watkins in the box. The tackle was expertly executed and meant Villa still had work to do in the second half.
West Ham brought on Callum Wilson and Adama Traore at the interval, and Pablo got into a good position and fired a shot. However, they were punished when Amadou Onana tackled Jarrod Bowen and Morgan Rogers rushed into the Irons defense.
Mads Hermansen should have dealt with Rodgers’ shot, but Watkins took the chance and could only parry the ball. The goal was a welcome response as the Villa striker was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s England squad and his hopes of qualifying for the World Cup are fading.
The same goes for Villa as a team. Emery had never lost four consecutive league games. He hasn’t done that yet. His profile looks like he wants to play in the Champions League again. For West Ham, if they show too many performances like this one, they could seal the championship.
Nuno: It wasn’t a good performance.
West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo said in a press conference:
“It wasn’t a good performance. We weren’t comfortable in the first half, we lost duels, we were slow to press, we couldn’t break the opponent. We were side-to-side, but we couldn’t break.”
“We were a little better in the second half. We had half chances but it wasn’t enough to change the course of the game. We lost to a better team than us.
“We expected more from ourselves.”
On Todibo: “Losing players during the warm-up is always a problem. It changes the situation. We had to change the shape.”
Emery delighted with Villa’s reaction
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery told Sky Sports.
“I’m very happy with the reaction of the players. It’s great. We set the challenge not only to win, but to recover as a team and be able to feel confident and comfortable in our system to win games.”
“I think it was probably the best first half we’ve played here at home this year. They were playing really well and we shut them down.
“I think we did everything we planned to do to win, the way we played, our dominance, avoiding transitions, avoiding momentum going into the box.
“I’m really happy because I’ve shown consistent performance over 31 games.”
On Watkins: “He’s a fighter and he had a great fight today. He’s got to keep going. The national team is very grateful for any player, but we have to accept that there are times when they’re available and times when they’re not.
“Now he has to focus with us to regain his confidence and numbers, so that he will soon return to the national team.”
Player of the match: Ollie Watkins
Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins told Sky Sports:
“Everyone wants to play for their country and I expected that.
“My form hasn’t been that great but I know what I’m capable of and we all know what I’m capable of when I put on an England shirt.
“I feel like I’ve done myself some favors. I feel like I’ve always performed well and I know what I can bring to the team.
“I have the ability to keep scoring goals, so I wouldn’t rule it out (the World Cup).”
