BEVERLY HILLS, December 01, (THEWILL) – On Monday night, West Ham won their third Premier League game in a row when they beat Aston Villa 2-1. It was a win with late drama as Villa’s Ollie Watkins missed a late penalty and saw an injury-time equaliser ruled out for a very tight offside only VAR could have detected.
Italian centre back Angelo Ogbonna scored West Ham’s fastest Premier League goal since November 2016. His open header went in only 1 minute and 50 seconds into the game.
Villa captain, the workaholic Jack Grealish, equalised for the visitors with a deflected strike from range into the top-left corner in the 25th minute.
However, right-winger Jarrod Bowen, who provided the assist for Ogbonna’s fast goal with a brilliant corner, was involved once more a mere 29 seconds into the second half. He wasted no time in heading home a looped ball from half-time substitute Said Benrahma, the Algerian left-winger.
Conceding these goals came as shock to a Villa side who otherwise dominated the game and created plenty of chances with the pace and trickery of Jack Grealish and right-winger Trezeguet.
Villa’s chance to draw level again came when Hammers’ central midfielder Declan Rice took Trezeguet to the ground by pulling his shirt in the box and the referee pointed to the spot. The opportunity was scuffed by Watkins as his penalty kick whacked the crossbar in the 74th-minute and went wide.
Again, Watkins was presented with the fortune to level out the score. This time, he scored but the goal was ruled out in the 91st minute when a lengthy VAR check deemed his arm was marginally offside. It meant West Ham held on to move up to fifth in the table, whereas Aston Villa fall to tenth.
Next up for the Hammers will be to welcome Manchester United to the London Stadium on Saturday while Villa are home to Newcastle the night before.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
