Douglas Luiz’s brace plus goals from Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey saw Aston Villa defeat West Ham 4-1 at Villa Park to go fifth in the Premier League.
Douglas Luiz put Villa ahead with a 30th minute curled strike into the top-right corner, before he doubled their lead in the 52nd minute with a penalty.
Jarrod Bowen pulled a goal back in the 57th minute via a deflection but Watkins confirmed Villa’s win with a 74th minute strike into the roof of the net, which ended their ten-match winless run against West Ham in the top-flight.
Villa substitutes, Youri Tielemans and Bailey eventually linked up in the 89th minute to seal a dominant home display, as the Belgian found Bailey to thump a thunderous strike into the top-left corner.
Villa now sit fifth and two points off league leaders – Manchester City, whilst West Ham remain ninth in the table.
Speaking post-match about how much this win meant after conceding at 2- up, Villa manager – Unai Emery commented: “Always we have to be ready because even when we are scoring, the opposing teams have good players and good moments.
“When they scored, we had to use our experiences and try to control the game again – even when we are winning, even when we are losing.
“When they scored one goal and are trying to take the result off us, our reaction was fantastic and we scored the third goal. Then we scored a fourth with Leon Bailey and it was fantastic because we’re building this energy here with our fans.
“When we are winning like that, it’s fantastic.”
With both teams chasing fifth position in the table coming into this match, West Ham almost seized the initiative just 45 seconds into the game as Lucas Paqueta broke on a counter-attack via Michail Antonio and teed uo Jarrod Bowen whose shot was saved.
A frantic end-to-end contest soon began to open up but West Ham continued to go close as Tomas Soucek headed wide in the 10th minute, before Bowen wiggled through into the box a minute later only for Douglas Luiz to deny him a chance to shoot.
Villa broke up the other end and Douglas Luiz won a corner as his curled shot towards the top right corner forced a save from Alphonse Areola.
Bowen almost put West Ham ahead in the 14th minute as he outrageously took aim towards the bottom-left corner from a bouncing ball following a throw-in, only for his volley to fly just wide.
Ollie Watkins – who scored a winner for England against Australia in the international break – saw a 16th minute shot roll wide for Villa after he met Moussa Diaby’s pass.
Villa eventually found the breakthrough opening goal in the 30th minute as Nicolo Zaniola pulled a pass back towards Watkins, who opted to lay off for Douglas Luiz to sweep in and strike a low shot which spilled in via Areola’s deflection.
That goal meant that the Brazilian became the first Villa player to score in six matches at home in the Premier League.
West Ham nevertheless continued to push to restore parity before half-time and won a 40th minute free-kick just outside of the box, after Ezri Konsa handballed Edson Alvarez’s shot but James Ward-Prowse’s delivery was blocked as Villa protected their lead into the half-time break.
David Moyes’ Hammers continued to try and chase an equaliser in the opening minutes of the second half but their efforts were undone in the 50th minute, as Boubacar Kamara played Konsa through who was brought down by Alvarez.
Referee, David Coote pointed straight to the penalty spot from which Douglas Luiz calmly dispatched the spot kick down the middle to double Villa’s lead two minutes later.
West Ham responded four minutes later after the ball was worked to Bowen on the edge of the box and the England international curled in a low shot, only for Digne to deflect the shot into the far-left corner beyond Emiliano Martinez’s reach.
Villa’s lead was almost wiped out in the 64th minute after a West Ham corner fell for Nayef Aguerd to aerobatically smash towards goal on his left foot, only for Matty Cash to clear the shot with a powrful header.
Villa though were able to defensively endure West Ham’s relentless pressure until the 74th minute, which saw the Villains break to restore their two-goal lead as Watkins lashed in from John McGinn’s direct forward pass after the latter intercepted Mohammed Kudus.
Victory was made even more assured in the 89th minute as two Villa substitutes combined, in which Tielemans slipped Bailey through to smash into the top-left corner to cap a dominant home performance with Villa now unbeaten in 13 home matches across all competitions.
What’s Next?
Villa visit AZ Alkmaar on Thursday 26 October in UEFA Europa Conference League action, before they host Luton at Villa Park next Sunday (29 October) in a 2pm GMT kick-off.
West Ham head to Olympiacos that same evening in Europa League action (5:45pm UK Time), before they return to domestic duty next Sunday (29 October) at home to Everton at 1pm GMT live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Teams
Aston Villa: Emiliano Martinez, Ezri Konsa, Boubacar Kamara, Pau Torres, Lucas Digne, Matty Cash, Nicolo Zaniolo (Bailey 76′), Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Moussa Diaby (Tielemans 85′), Ollie Watkins
Substitutes: Diego Carlos, Youri Tielemans, Bertrand Traore, Calum Chambers, Clement Lenglet, Robin Olsen, Leon Bailey, Leander Dendoncker, Omari Kellyman
West Ham: Alphonse Areola, Vladimir Coufal, Kurt Zouma, Nayef Aguerd, Emerson, Edson Alvarez, James Ward-Prowse, Jarrod Bowen, Tomas Soucek (Kudus 67′), Lucas Paqueta (Ings 86′), Michail Antonio
Substitutes: Lukasz Fabianski, Pablo Fornals, Mohammed Kudus, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Danny Ings, Angelo Ogbonna, Said Benrahma, Thilo Kehrer, Divin Mubama
Referee – David Coote
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