October 31, (THEWILL) – With a convincing 4-1 win over 10-man Aston Villa, West Ham made it four wins in five Premier League away games.
Ben Johnson, Declan Rice, Pablo Fornals, and Jarrod Bowen all scored as the Hammers clinched their position in the top four at Villa Park, with Ollie Watkins scoring the home side’s consolation goal.
The Hammers knocked Manchester City out of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, capping off a fantastic week in which they also beat Tottenham in the Premier League and Genk in the Europa League. It was no wonder that they came out firing at Villa Park.
However, their first goal came from an unlikely source against a Villa side that was at the opposite end of the confidence scale. Within the first ten minutes, Johnson was the one who got it, calmly collecting Rice’s precise pass and firing home with his weak foot.
Bowen could have – and perhaps should have – made it two with an effort that was miraculously blocked by Matty Cash, before Watkins’ first-time finish brought Villa back into the game.
Dean Smith’s team swiftly went down again, this time because to a deflection off Emi Martinez’s post, which allowed Rice to score from 25 yards.
Ezri Konsa was sent off for tripping Bowen minutes into the second half, though West Ham would believe the hosts got off lightly as Kortney Hause might well have been sent off in the build-up to the same move after forearm-punching Fornals square in the jaw.
With ten men, Villa struck the crossbar as Watkins attempted to draw his team level, but David Moyes’ Hammers took advantage of their numerical surplus.
After Martinez had stopped brilliantly from Bowen, Fornals tucked home into an empty net for the third goal. But, Bowen got his own goal in the end when he was unselfishly set up by Lanzini, scoring the fourth goal with a slide home from close range.
The game was played out to a cacophony of noise from the away end, which was no less than West Ham deserved.
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.
