A rejuvenated Jesse Lingard scored twice on his West Ham debut to lead David Moyes’s side to an impressive 3-1 victory at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Wednesday night.
The former England international had been frozen at Manchester United, but looked strong from the first whistle on his first Premier League start to the season, punching with his left and right feet (56 and 83) to lead the visitors to the victory at Villa Park.
Ollie Watkins came close to opening the scoring in the first half, launching a shot outside the post, but West Ham was on top for long stretches and Tomas Soucek (51) completed a good team play for his eighth of the season. to give them a deserved advantage.
Lingard scored an impressive second five minutes later and although Watkins (81) threw one back, it was the new Hammers kid who had the final say, shooting through Emiliano Martinez to score three away wins at the top for fifth place. from West. Ham. Moyes’s men are just two points behind Liverpool in fourth place, while Aston Villa remains ninth.
Player Ratings
Aston Villa: Martínez (8), Cash (7), Konsa (7), Mings (7), Targett (6), Luiz (6), McGinn (6), El Ghazi (5), Barkley (6), Grealish (7) , Watkins (7).
Subs: Traore (6), Trezeguet (n / a), Sanson (n / a)
West Ham: Fabianski (7), Coufal (8), Dawson (7), Ogbonna (6), Cresswell (7), Fredericks (8), Rice (7), Soucek (8), Lingard (9), Benrahma (8), Antonio (8).
Subs: Fornals (n / a), Johnson (n / a), Bowen (n / a)
Man of the match: Jesse Lingard
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How Lingard starred in his dream debut …
Lingard had made a scoring contribution in his last Premier League appearance in July, but 192 days later it was a surprise to see him included in Moyes’ starting eleven for the first game he was eligible for after his loan change from Old Trafford. . . It was a selection that paid off.
Playing the number 10, Lingard impressively connected with Said Benrahma and Soucek for the first 45 minutes, firing four shots, including a stinging blow in the 16th minute that Martinez had to stop.
Michail Antonio also put Villa’s goalkeeper to the test before the hosts nearly scored against the game in 27 minutes.
Jack Grealish pounced on a Craig Dawson error in the West Ham half and delivered a brilliant reverse pass to Watkins who was in space in the box. The forward doubled a shot towards the goal but it went wide, cutting the outside of the post.
Team news
- There was only one change for Aston Villa, with Anwar El Ghazi instead of Bertrand Traore
- West Ham made two changes, with Jesse Lingard making his debut and Ryan Fredericks also entering the wing. Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen fell to the bench
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Ross Barkley seized another good opportunity at the half-hour mark of a Villa set piece, before West Ham showed what they could do in a free kick situation, when Aaron Cresswell caught another clever save from Martinez.
Soucek shot wide after combining with Lingard and Benrahma as West Ham finished the half on the front foot, and there was also a goal effort from Vladimir Coufal, who had worked impressively down the right wing with Ryan Fredericks.
Villa sent Bertrand Traore for the ineffective Anwar El Ghazi at halftime, but it was the Hammers who got the breakthrough, scoring on a clever team goal.
Dawson headed a long ball from Villa to Antonio, who left Benrahma to fit Soucek, and the Czech drilled the ball through Martinez and into the far corner.
Tomas Soucek scores the opening goal at Villa Park
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Lingard then beat the Villa keeper similarly from the other side of the box moments later, ending a West Ham counterattack by knocking down a cross from Antonio and firing home his first Hammers goal.
West Ham nearly got three up in 59 minutes when Ezri Konsa had to block in the six-yard box to deny Antonio and Tyrone Mings then had to acrobatically clear Antonio’s balloon off the goal line three minutes later when visitors tried the contest ends.
Villa withdrew a goal out of nowhere when Grealish played at Watkins to get past Lukasz Fabianski, but Lingard responded in a couple of minutes to score all three points and seal a dream debut, although Martinez should have done better with the direct shot. to the.
What the managers said …
Aston Villa boss Dean Smith to BT Sport: “The best team won tonight. We were not at our normal pace. Probably five games in a short period of time caught up with us today, or that’s how we looked. We didn’t have that intention that we’ve been playing with.
“We give away bad goals. We put two balls into Ollie and he broke and they went straight through us. Emi thinks he should do better with the third goal. The second goal for me was terrible. it was our free kick. It’s a bad defense. It’s not like us. “
West Ham boss David Moyes to BT Sport: “It was an excellent performance. We knew this was tough and after a loss to Liverpool when we knew we didn’t play that well, putting on that performance gives you an idea of how the players felt about it. We move on.
“We are excited [with Lingard] because it made the difference in the team. If he maintains that form, it won’t be long until he returns to the England team. It was a great opening night for him. Not only the goals, it also made the team play better. I felt we were a little short in areas where we can make opportunities, and he has already made a difference. “
Man of the match: Jesse Lingard
It’s hard to believe that Jesse Lingard has only had three domestic cup finals this season. Despite having been excluded from Manchester United’s first team for most of this season, the 28-year-old looked strong, fit and energetic at Villa Park.
Throughout the first part there was a clear air of intention in his game. This was a player with a point to prove. His bonding game with Soucek, Benrahma and Antonio was exciting and dangerous. He was full of confidence and eager to shoot on sight. And, in the second half, he showed his quality in key moments.
In both teams, only Soucek ran further than him, only Benrahma did more sprints. This is a motivated Lingard in good physical condition, and it looks like he’s going to be a real advantage for West Ham in the second half of the season.
One wonders what the head of England, Gareth Southgate, thought …
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Jesse Lingard scores West Ham’s second goal
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Opt for statistics
- West Ham manager David Moyes has overseen three consecutive away wins in the Premier League for the first time since April 2014, when he was in charge of Manchester United (four in a row).
- Aston Villa have lost four of their last six league games (W2); they had only lost four of their first 14 games of the season beforehand.
- West Ham has earned 38 points from its 22 Premier League games this season, its highest record at this stage of a top flight campaign since 1985-86, when it had 45 points and would finish third.
- Aston Villa has lost consecutive Premier League meetings with West Ham for the first time since January 2006.
- Tomas Soucek has scored eight Premier League goals for West Ham this season; excluding penalties, this is the most of any midfielder in the competition.
- Jesse Lingard was only the second player to score twice in his Premier League debut for West Ham, after Trevor Sinclair against Everton in January 1998.
- Since the start of last season, no player has scored more league goals in England’s first two tiers than Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins (34, tier with Jamie Vardy and Mo Salah, excluding play-offs).
Whats Next?
Aston Villa host Arsenal in a kickoff at 12.30pm on Saturday, while West Ham travels to Fulham on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Premier League from 5pm; Start 17.30 h.
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