Aston Villa retained their Champions League title with a resounding 4-1 win over West Ham.
Douglas Luiz’s brace, including a second-half penalty, plus goals from Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey lifted them to fifth in the Premier League – just two points off top spot.
Jarrod Bowen’s deflected try made it 2-1 but the hosts recovered with Watkins scoring a crucial third before Bailey wrapped things up late.
The Hammers, now five points behind Villa, slumped to just a third defeat of the season after struggling to match the hosts.
Mail Sport’s Ryan Walker rated the players on Sunday.
Douglas Luiz orchestrated Aston Vila’s midfield and was rewarded with two goals
ASTON VILLA
GK: Emiliano Martinez (7)
Relatively decent first half, apart from a brilliant save from Lucas Paqueta, with the eventual effort being ruled out for offside. Made a comfortable stop from Bowen later in the half and put the defense under pressure at times with slow passes.
RB: Matty Cash: (7)
Provided width that at times helped Villa out of harm’s way and showed his determination to deny West Ham further goals with a diving header on the line in the 65th minute, preventing Aguerd from scoring before making another last-ditch effort 10 minutes later.
CB: Pau Torres (7)
Villa’s defense has been good and he has become a reliable defensive product under Emery, playing every minute of every Premier League match since coming on as a substitute in the first game of the season. Carried the ball with purpose and was always looking for the forward pass.
CB: Ezri Konsa (7)
Reacted quickest in the penalty area to Paqueta’s loose pass and went down under pressure to give Villa the penalty. A physical presence in defense and regularly won his individual battles with Antonio. A first goal in two years still eludes him and a shot in the 21st minute, which almost went out for a throw-in, shows why.
LB: Lucas Digne (6)
Didn’t get the ball on the wing as often as he might have liked, but that was largely because Villa got the pleasure of attacking through the center channels. He never looked uncomfortable in defense but was too relaxed when closing down Bowen and it was his deflection that led to West Ham pulling a goal back.
Aston Villa defeated West Ham to move just two points off the top of the Premier League
CM: Douglas Luiz (8)
Directed Vila’s midfield and was rewarded with two goals, the first of which was a neat side-footed finish in the bottom score to put the hosts ahead. His best effort, a curling strike similar to Diogo Dalot’s winner for Manchester United the night before, was well stopped by a brilliant save. Punished the Hammers from the penalty spot with a venomous strike through the center of the goal.
CM: Boubacar Kamara (6)
Did what was necessary to keep Villa going and was largely responsible for clearing any second balls that fell his way. Offered the ball to his side’s more creative players when in possession and rarely put a foot wrong.
RM: John McGinn (C) (7)
Was the driving force in Villa’s midfield, usually moving towards the center of the pitch rather than hanging out wide. Struggled to find quality with balls into the box in the first half but improved later in the match, as did Villa.
LM: Nicolo Zaniolo (6)
Brought back into the team by Emery despite the ongoing gambling investigation into the Italian, he started well before fading later in the match. His energy levels disrupted West Ham’s defence, but his quality did not. Continued to shortchange Villa’s waiting attackers in the box with poor crosses and infuriated the crowd when he went down pathetically and saw a non-existent head injury in the second half.
ST: Ollie Watkins (8)
Everyone recognizes the goal threat that Watkins possesses, but his creativity in and around the penalty area is equally impressive. Demonstrated his awareness to lay a pass ahead of Douglas Luiz’s opening strike and was ruthless in his pursuit of a fifth Premier League goal of the season, even after a glaring miss in the 16th minute in which he deftly diverted the pass from Diaby checked, but somehow withdrew his ball. shot wide from the penalty spot. He finally got the goal he craved with a stroke of brilliance, requiring two quick transitions before the ball smashed into the roof of the net for Villa’s third goal.
ST: Moussa Diaby (7)
His rapid pace is his best threat and he used it to great effect on every occasion. There was excitement when Diaby got the ball and had space to run into. What was more promising is that he appears to have formed a communicative partnership with Watkins, with responsibility for assisting the Englishman rather than scoring himself.
Subs
76′ Bailey (7)
Came off the bench and struck the final blow for West Ham with a beautiful goal. He promised Alvarez to go one way before dragging the ball back and finishing powerfully.
Tielemans (n/a)
Unused subs: Olsen, Carlos, Chambers, Lenglet, Dendoncker, Kellyman
Manager
Unai Emery (8)
His game plan tore West Ham to pieces in the second half and with Watkins and Diaby he has forged an attacking partnership that the rest of the Premier League will have to be wary of. There is a delicate balance in everything Villa does and their defense looks much more solid now than in the early parts of the season.
Ollie Watkins restored Villa’s two-goal lead after crashing at the near post
WEST HAM
GK: Alphonse Areola (6)
He made a brilliant one-handed diving save to deny Luiz in the first half but was weak in stopping Villa’s next attack that opened the scoring. Was helpless to keep out the other two goals that earned the win for the hosts.
RB: Vladimir Coufal (5)
Struggled with Zaniolo but was often undone by the Villa winger’s pace. Eventually he started to gain the upper hand over his opponent, but he needs to start contributing more to West Ham’s attacks rather than sitting around.
CB: Kurt Zouma (C) (6)
Dominant in defense until the moment he got off Watkins, giving the Englishman a huge target to shoot at. He has yet to be dribbled past in the Premier League this season but will be disappointed with the way he contributed to the game’s final goal.
CB: Nayef Aguerd (5)
He struggled with the pace and fluidity of Villa’s forwards and didn’t get much protection from the midfield lined up in front of him. I don’t want to watch this match again as the Hammers ran riot in the closing stages.
LB: Emerson (5)
Too often he was caught out of position and didn’t have the pace to overtake Diaby when the Villa winger charged on the counter. Booked for coming on for McGinn and was one of the poor performers for the visitors.
CM: Edson Alvarez (5)
I had to feel sympathy for the Mexican when he put Konsa in the box for Villa’s penalty, as he should never have been put in that position due to a terrible pass from Paqueta. The foul was clumsy, as was his defense for Bailey’s late goal, after being wrong-footed in the penalty area as Villas bundled in their fourth goal.
West Ham were given a lifeline when Jarrod Bowen’s effort went in off a poor deflection
CM: James Ward-Prowse (7)
Started brightly positioned in a more attacking role when West Ham were in possession and deeper when Villa had the ball. Missed his shooting boots all the way with a free-kick on the edge of the boxing effort before halftime hit the wall straight. Stylish all-round play and it’s a shame his teammates couldn’t match his quality.
CM: Tomas Soucek (5)
Floated through the game and failed to make an impact. Villa played around him and the Czech Republic international chased shadows for big stints. I didn’t do anything of note before getting knocked out in the second half.
CAM: Lucas Paqueta (5)
Showed off a few stylish touches, but for the most part this will be a game he’ll want to forget. Produced a scorching acrobatic effort from the penalty area and was completely disillusioned as he played a pass back towards goal, resulting in Diaz scoring from inside the box.
penalty area.
ST: Jarrod Bowen (6)
Not his best game in West Ham’s attack, always feeling like he was two passes short of ever getting into a threatening position for most of the encounter. He still managed to score his fifth Premier League goal of the season, with his shot deflected off Digne and into the bottom corner.
ST: Michael Antonio (4)
Other than holding the play back, it’s hard to see what Antonio can offer to West Ham’s attack. Was incredibly wasteful in possession and never caused Villa defenders any problems. Kudus must be wondering why Moyes keeps playing Antonio ahead of him; after this performance, it’s unlikely he’ll still do so.
Subs
67′ Kudus (6)
Came in hoping to make an impact but made the wrong one when he conceded possession with a sloppy pass that led to Villa breaking on the counter and Watkins scoring the fourth goal of the match. Antonio still deserves to start.
Fornals (n/a) Ings (n/a)
Michail Antonio was wasteful in possession and never caused any problems for Villa’s defenders
Unused subs: Fabianski, Mavropanos, Ogbonna, Benrahma, Kehrer, Mubama
Manager
David Moyes (5)
The Scot’s 14-game unbeaten run against Villa is over and in disastrous circumstances as the home side scored four goals. Questions will arise over his team selection and the striking decision to feature Antonio ahead of Kudus, while the midfield formation lacks the pace needed to help West Ham’s attackers.