What we saw tonight again from Aston Villa is a team that does not stop playing with high intensity before the whistle blows. – Again in the 2 – 3 win over West Ham away at the London Stadium, the last goal came in injury time.
West Ham led twice and each time they turned the game around. – It is this kind of attitude that wins games and leagues.
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Aston Villa turned around after a shock start with two goals from the brilliant Morgan Rogers.
The BBC sums it up simply in its headline: “Rogers cripples West Ham and Villa win their ninth win in a row.”
“Rogers is world class,” says Sky Sports commentator Rich Morgan.
The fight in a nutshell:
- Matheus Fernandes puts West Ham in the lead after 29 seconds – the fastest goal in the Premier League this season.
- Konstantinos Mavropanos deflects a cross from John McGinn into his own goal and equalises for Villa.
- Jarrod Bowen gives the Hammers the lead again, before Morgan Rogers scores two goals to turn the game around.
- Villa hold third place, three points behind Arsenal, while West Ham are third bottom of the table.
It’s been 203 days since Victor Nilsson Lindelöf started a Premier League game, then for Manchester United. Since the summer, the Swede has belonged to Aston Villa, and there the centre-back has mostly had to make do with the bench and sometimes been substituted.
Sunday, however, marked Nilsson Lindelöf’s return to the starting line-up in a Premier League match. The 31-year-old centre-back took his place in Unai Emery’s eleven for the clash with West Ham.
However, Villa got a cold shower after just 29 seconds at the London Stadium. Nilsson Lindelöf’s centre-back colleague Ezri Konsa lost the ball just outside his own penalty area, giving Matheus Fernandes a free pass to make it 1-0 behind Marco Bizot. The goal was the fastest in the Premier League so far this season.
The away side responded relatively immediately, as Ollie Watkins nodded in John McGinn’s cross to make it 1-1 eight minutes later.
But in the 24th minute, West Ham took the lead again. Nilsson Lindelöf lost the marker on Jarrod Bowen in front of goal, and Bowen was able to angle in 2-1 after a finish from Freddie Potts.
Rich Morgan of Sky Sports got the feeling of the intense introduction.
“What a start to this game in the East End – three goals, and we’ve only played a quarter of the game! It must have something to do with the fact that it’s Christmas time,” says the commentator.
The second half was to get off to a flying start just like the first. Morgan Rogers was responsible for an ice-cold finish when he was played free in the penalty area to make it 2-2 in the 50th minute.
“The control, the turn and the finish, all in one movement, were world-class from Rogers,” says Rich Morgan of Sky.
Rogers wasn’t done. With ten minutes left of regulation time, the England international put on another class action when he made it 3-2 to the away team.
“It’s an absolutely fantastic long-range shot from Rogers who is world-class – Areola had absolutely no chance in West Ham’s goal when that long-range shot whizzed past the ‘Hammers’ helpless goalkeeper,” says Morgan in Sky.
With the three points, Villa keep pace with Arsenal and Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
