West Ham 2-1 Aston Villa: Bowen wins for the Hammers

West Ham advanced fifth in the Premier League with a victory over Aston Villa in a vibrant match at London Stadium.

The former Brentford player also hit the crossbar with a penalty as the energetic visitors pressed to level his well-deserved game.

David Moyes has quietly established the Hammers as an effective team this season and they got off to a perfect start when Ogbonna buried a header on Emiliano Martinez in the first two minutes.

Villa had won the previous three away games and took control of the first half after that, Jack Grealish tied Lukasz Fabianski from distance.

But Moyes rattled off the changes at the break and paid immediate dividends as backup Said Benrahma set Jarrod Bowen up for a delightfully deft header immediately after the restart to regain the lead.

Villa had plenty of equalizing chances, but was left to lament Watkins’ waste and VAR’s decision.

West Ham, meanwhile, gratefully seized the victory to get within four points of Tottenham and the Premier League summit.

West Ham good form

When West Ham was handsomely beaten by Newcastle on opening day, the script was apparently set for another season at the bottom of the Premier League.

But since that loss, the Hammers have beaten Leicester City and Wolves, tied Man City and Tottenham, and accumulated their highest point total after 10 games in nine years.

Moyes’ teams are always built on firm foundations and Ogbonna’s three defenders, Fabian Balbuena and Aaron Cresswell, protected by Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek, have been rock solid.

In fact, only Tottenham and Chelsea have conceded less in the league than West Ham.

And they also carry a threat from set pieces, no more apparent than when Ogbonna edged Matt Targett to open the scoring from Bowen’s corner.

They gave up the lead in the first half, but Moyes showed his gift for turning it around, bringing Sebastien Haller and Benrahma to the break, and was instantly rewarded with the winning goal.

They were lucky, especially with the missed penalty and Villa’s disallowed goal, but they took advantage of their opportunities and held on.

West Ham may have been ruled out earlier this season, but Moyes has done so before by bringing disliked teams to the top echelons of the league.

With the Hammers sitting in the European places after 10 games, Moyes’ shares are on the rise once again.

Frustration for the elegant Villa

Dean Smith’s team has been a tough team to predict this season – three wins out of three on the road before this one, but shaky at home.

They destroyed champion Liverpool but sent goals in overwhelming defeats to Leeds, Southampton and Brighton.

They were also caught off guard in each half’s opening exchanges here, two simple headers breaking their baseline and undoing their good work going forward.

At Grealish, however, they had the standout player of the game and he deserved the height on their side with a distinctive classy finish from outside the box midway through the first half.

His quick footwork was a constant threat, but he was unusually disappointed by his supporting cast as Watkins not only missed from the spot but headed for another presentable opportunity.

Villa controlled most of the play, but was not ruthless enough in either box to turn his dominance into points.

When Watkins got home in injury time, it looked like they had salvaged a point only for the VAR to step in and leave Smith counting the cost of those missed opportunities.

‘Without thinking about VAR’ – what they said

West Ham boss David Moyes: “Our performance was not very good. We showed resistance to get the three points, as Aston Villa made it really difficult for us.

“I don’t want us to play bad, I want us to play well, but the team has been excellent in general. The little things came out for us tonight, we will take it and move on.”

Dean Smith, Aston Villa Manager: “I am disappointed with the result, but I thought we were very good tonight. We have had enough chances to win the game and that’s why it hurts so much.”

“They gave him the offside decision for his arm, but the only reason his arm is there is because they are fouling him. If it wasn’t a goal, it should have been a penalty.”

“I’m not going home thinking about VAR. It frustrates everyone, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Constant team selection: the statistics

• West Ham have won three straight Premier League games for the first time since May 2019, while losing just one of their last eight (G5 D2) after losing the two directly before.
• Aston Villa have lost four of their last five games in the top flight (G1), after enjoying an unbeaten streak of eight games before that (G6 D2)
• West Ham became the first team to score in the first two minutes of the first and second half in a single Premier League game since Manchester City against Fulham in September 2018.
• Five of Aston Villa’s goals in the Premier League this season, the division’s highest, have come from outside the box (Grealish two, Barkley two and McGinn one)
• These two teams have made fewer changes to their starting eleven than any other team in the Premier League this season (Aston Villa four, West Ham five)
• Aston Villa playmaker Jack Grealish has been directly involved in 10 Premier League goals this season (five goals, five assists), a throw that only Spurs couple Harry Kane (16) and Son Heung -Min (11), can exceed.

Whats Next?

West Ham will host 2,000 fans at London Stadium for Manchester United’s visit on Saturday (17:30 GMT). Aston Villa hopes to bounce back with a home game against Newcastle United on Friday (20:00 GMT).