It was the canny finish Unai Emery no doubt expected from his “finisher” after the Villa manager returned Ollie Watkins to his usual club role as a starter. All summer, Watkins seemed to be Gareth Southgate’s go-to striking understudy. But it was only when he was replaced by Jhon Durán that Villa were able to spoil Julen Lopetegui’s first game in charge of a revamped West Ham.
It was no more than Villa deserved after dominating the game either side of a controversial penalty decision against Matty Cash that could so easily have robbed Villa of a win. Replays showed there was very little in the coming together between the defender and Tomas Soucek that gave Lucas Paquetá the chance to level from the spot.
However, this was one bundle of Cash that did not pay off and after a weak defensive display and lacklustre start to a new era, the jury remains out on the £120m summer investment.
In a video call-to-arms delivered via the two giant screens in the final moments before kick-off, the former Real Madrid manager vowed solemnly to West Ham fans: “A new story is about to unfold”. Sure enough, Villa, who had not beaten the Hammers away for 13 years, took the lead inside four minutes.
It was a set piece of ghastly simplicity. Youri Tielemans’s corner was nodded strongly into the net by Amadou Onana after the midfielder signed for £50m in the summer left the West Ham stalwart Michail Antonio two yards in his wake with a simple, positive dart towards the near post.
Less than 10 minutes had elapsed when Morgan Rogers weaved his way past four defenders only to hit a disappointing shot that Alphonse Areola was able to block with his arm.
Only some quick thinking from the West Ham goalkeeper prevented Leon Bailey from doubling the lead when the Villa winger was put clear by as simple a ploy as a quickly taken free-kick. However, when the pair met again on the edge of the area eight minutes later, Areola’s thinking was so quick it seemed to have escaped his head completely. He was left completely stranded by Bailey’s side-step and even with the last-gasp intervention on the line of the debutant Max Kilman, he should have done better than to steer the ball on to the foot of a post.
He and Guido Rodríguez were the only new faces in a starting lineup that did little to reflect a costly statement of intent. Instead, it was a rather cheap penalty that rescued Lopetegui’s first 45 minutes in charge. Cash struggled to get even a finger on Soucek but nevertheless was penalised by the referee, Tony Harrington, with a penalty that a new, less interfering VAR, or so we have been promised, allowed to stand.
Lucas Paquetá’s conversion was faltering, but faultless. The Brazilian waited for Emiliano Martínez to dive before coolly chipping the ball into the opposite corner.
An audacious rabona cross from Mohammed Kudus, exquisitely executed to pick out Soucek early in the second half, was indication of more positivity from the home side after their stroke of good fortune.
Having moved to the London Stadium with an executive model that had Championship League football at its core, the competition’s newest qualifiers, Aston Villa, are very much the yardstick for West Ham’s ambitions.
The visitors had looked much the more cohesive in the first half, with Onana bringing energy to complement Tielemans’s guile, providing a platform for the latter to pick out the passes that would exploit the pace in front of him.
after newsletter promotion
It was a straightforward recipe and one Villa continued to experiment with in the second half, when Tielemans was served up a good chance from the edge of the area. Konstantinos Mavropanos deflected it away with a resolute boot.
Quick Guide
How do I sign up for sport breaking news alerts?
Show
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for ‘The Guardian’.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sport notifications.
Watkins was playing his first game since the Euro final in Germany and made way on the hour for Jhon Durán. The Colombian nearly made an instant impact, offering himself as a target for Villa to pick out at the far post only to fail to steer his header downwards.
Moments later, he hit the side-netting with a better chance when the West Ham defence was again caught square by a simple diagonal pass from deep.
It was time for Lopetegui to unleash his own back-up firepower, with Niclas Füllkrug making a much-anticipated first appearance in the 73rd minute after his move from Borussia Dortmund.
But while Durán proved the matchwinner after another worrying Villa move behind West Ham’s lines saw the ball worked easily to him just eight yards out to fire in, Füllkrug big chance came in the 86th minute with a free header from the edge of the six-yard box. The Germany international could only head the ball weakly into the arms of Martínez and when Soucek spurned a double-chance in injury time, West Ham’s fate was sealed.