Fornals the man for West Ham to ease pressure on David Moyes
BACK IN BUSINESS: West Ham United's Pablo Fornals celebrates. Photo: Nick Potts/PA Wire.
The pressure on West Ham manager David Moyes was eased thanks to a hat-trick of firsts that accompanied a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Aston Villa that saw the Hammers climb off the foot of the Premier League table.
Pablo Fornals delivered the game’s decisive blow at Villa Park, scoring with a deflected shot in the 74th minute as West Ham recorded their first goal, first win and first points of the Premier League campaign to move out of the relegation zone.
Moyes, whose side had won just one of their previous ten league games, handed a debut to left-back Emerson and, tellingly, a first Premier League start for Italy striker Gianluca Scamacca in place of Michail Antonio in pursuit of attacking inspiration his side have lacked this season.
The Villa teamsheet would have provided a further fillip as there was no Tyrone Mings at centre-back with the England player understood to be missing through illness, which meant manager Steven Gerrard was unable to name a central defender among his substitutes.
Villa were the first to threaten a breakthrough when Lucas Digne sent Ollie Watkins racing down the left wing and his cross-shot deflected off Kurt Zouma and sped just wide of Lukasz Fabianski’s goals.
Hearts were in West Ham mouths amid a flurry as Ezri Konsa slotted the ball in from close range after Philippe Coutinho had rattled a post following Digne’s corner only for the goal to be overruled by an assistant referee with set-piece having strayed out of play.
With West Ham defending in numbers, the 6ft 5in Scamacca struggled to make his presence felt as he was routinely outnumbered but he did get a chance to demonstrate his defensive capabilities when he nodded Douglas Luiz’s menacing free-kick to safety.
The visitors suffered a setback when right-back Ben Johnson went off injured Vladimir Coufal Coutinho was clearly in the mood for Villa but, despite his neat footwork nothing he tried to conjure came off. One long distance shot easily saved by Fabianski before epitomising a scrappy contest when he lost his footing and stumbled to the ground while speeding forward.
At the other end, it was increasingly disjointed, desperate stuff for West Ham in attack, summed when, following Scamacca’s knock-down, Pablo Fornals tried his luck with a volley from 25 yards that flew high and wide into the Holte End.
While skipper Declan Rice performed his midfield duties with diligence, the lack of creativity shows why West Ham are poised to sign Lyon’s Brazilian midfielder Lucas Paqueta for a club-record £36.5m.
The striker, Said Benrahma, was sent on in place of Emerson for the second half as West Ham raised their game and the occasion livened up.
Bowen should have put the visitors ahead when he was sent clear by Fornals following John McGinn’s slip but he dawdled and Digne came to his side’s rescue with a sliding block as the England forward set his sights on goal.
Villa’s fortunes took a turn for the worse when Coutinho hobbled off injured in the 66th minute and his absence paved the way for West Ham to take command.
As they pushed for a goal, the Villa defence was all over the place and Rice seized on the opening, finding Fornals in space and when his effort struck Konsa and looped into the air, there was an inevitability about where the ball would end up as it sailed over Emiliano Martinez.
It was just the stroke of goof fortune that Moyes needed and now Villa counterpart Gerrard will be hoping Lady Luck smiles on him as the pressure builds at Villa Park where boos echoed around the ground following the final whistle.
Martinez 7; Cash 6, Chambers 6, Konsa 6, Digne 6; Douglas Luiz (Ramsey 66, 6), Kamara 6, Coutinho 7 (Buendia 66, 6), McGinn 6 (Archer 90, 6), Watkins 6, Ings 6.
Olsen (g), Augustinsson, Young, Nakamba, Bailey, J Iroegbunam.
Cash
Fabianski 7; Johnson 6 (Coufal 23, 6), Kehrer 7, Zouma 8, Cresswell 6, Emerson 6(Benrahma 46, 6), Bowen 6, Soucek 6, Rice 7, Fornals 6; Scamacca 6 (Antonio 65, 6).
Areola (g), Lanzini, Downes, Cornet, Ogbonna, Coventry.
David Coote
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