West Ham downed Aston Villa 2-1 to keep their hopes for Champions League alive. The game was all about the last 20 minutes, which saw the three goals. The Hammers were helped by strikes from Andriy Yarmolenko and Pablo Fornals. Jacob Ramsey did pull one back for Gerrard’s men, but it only proved to be a consolation. The win took West Ham two points clear of Wolves, and two within fifth-placed Manchester United. Aston Villa player ratings are here from their spirited loss against West Ham.
The first half saw plenty of chances missed by both sides. Aston Villa came close within four minutes of kick-off, whereas West Ham fancied their chance through Pablo Fornals. However, Danny Ings failed to capitalize and Fornals’ shot went past the far corner. Philippe Coutinho was a constant threat to the Hammers, who was driving forward relentlessly with the ball.
Finally, the game which deserved a goal or two early on, saw West Ham take the lead in the 70th minute. Benrahma’s smart ball into the box was controlled brilliantly by Yarmolenko who within a fraction of a second slotted it past Emiliano Martinez with the outside of his boot. Declan Rice’s blistering run then created the second for the Hammers. The Englishman released Benrahma and his cut-back was placed into the net by Fornals. The Algerian who impressed since replacing Michail Antonio bagged his second assist of the afternoon.
Villa responded with a goal right in the 90th minute. Emiliano Buendia laid the ball for Jacob Ramsey who deliciously struck it past Fabianski from the edge of the penalty box. The Polish keeper didn’t even get the chance to move for Ramsey’s strike. However, the goal only clinched West Ham’s clean-sheet and not any point(s).
Aston Villa Player Ratings- ‘keeper and the back-line
Emiliano Martinez- 6/10
Pulled some decent saves but could have done nothing to stop those two strikes. The defenders’ poor positioning exposed the Argentine for the goals.
Matty Cash- 7/10
Cash proved to be a force to reckon for Cresswell. His high press up the flank was difficult to be handled and caused a lot of problems for the Hammers. Cash’s defensive work was also decent enough.
Calum Chambers- 6/10
Chambers stood his ground firm to contain the constant attacks from Michail Antonio. His aerial presence was crucial as he won all of his aerial duels. However, Chambers conceded a moment of weakness in Yarmolenko’s goal.
Tyrone Mings- 7/10
The captain led his defense from the front. He neutralized West Ham’s set-piece threat and tracked Michail Antonio’s runs into the box. Moreover, the center-back chipped in with 2 key passes as well.
Lucas Digne- N/A
Unlucky as he was substituted within the 10 minutes of kick-off due to injury.
Midfield
John McGinn- 6/10
McGinn showed his mettle against a powerful West Ham midfield. He won 3 of his 5 tackles and 7 of his 9 contested duels. But McGinn was unable to feed the attackers with some cutting passes when he could have.
Douglas Luiz- 5/10
Luiz supplied what McGinn didn’t. The Brazilian constantly looked for passes upfront, releasing his fellow international Coutinho as many times as he could. Helped Villa keep the ball for long spells too. However, he could have enforced himself more on the West Ham attackers to limit them.
Jacob Ramsey- 8/10
Ramsey tops our player’s ratings for Aston Villa. The midfielder was fearless going forward against the West Ham defenders. Apart from his fantastic goal, Ramsey put in 3 key passes, 100% dribble success, and a pass completion rate of 91%.
Philippe Coutinho- 7/10
Coutinho continued his stellar form. He created as much trouble as possible for the Hammers. Along with Ramsey, Coutinho constantly looked for Ings and Watkins. However, his effect was reduced by the hammers in the second half.
Attack
Danny Ings- 6/10
Almost opened the scoring for Villa but Fabianski’s lightning reflexes denied Ings. A quiet afternoon for the striker who was playing a different role. Ings looked to mark Declan Rice more than contributing to the attack.
Ollie Watkins- 5/10
Watkins was a total opposite to his compatriot Ings. He tirelessly pressed the West Ham defense, which resulted in right-back Ben Johnson committing mistakes.
Substitutes
Ashley Young- 3/10
Replaced Lucas Digne in the 10th minute. The veteran full-back was full of energy, but Villa instead attacked more from the right-flank of Cash and McGinn.
Leon Bailey- 4/10
Replaced Danny Ings in the 69th minute. Leon Bailey did provide some pace but lost the possession cheaply from a clean challenge from Rice which resulted in West Ham’s second goal.
Emiliano Buendia- 6/10
Replaced Douglas Luiz in the 79th minute. Perhaps should have come on earlier. In his limited 11 minutes, Buendia assisted Ramsey, forced a save from Fabianski, and played in one key-pass.
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