It started as an emotional East End afternoon and ended in another disappointing defeat for the Hammers at London Stadium on Sunday.
With the West Ham United family coming together as one to remember dearly-departed, Club legend, Billy Bonds in a moving pre-match ceremony, Nuno Espírito Santo’s side then got off to a flying start thanks to Mateus Fernandes’ first-minute opener.
And although in-form Villa quickly equalised through an unfortunate Konstantinos Mavropanos own-goal, Jarrod Bowen gave the Hammers an interval lead before Morgan Rogers’ decisive second-half double secured a 3-2 victory for the villains of the piece.
“Before the game there was a proper tribute to a great player,” observed Nuno. “We are so disappointed that we could not honour Billy Bonds in the best way. We wanted to finish with a win and celebrate his memory with our fans.”
ollowing a rousing salute to ‘Bonzo’ - West Ham’s iconic No 4 - it looked like divine intervention had played an immediate hand in the opening goal, when Fernandes robbed Ezri Konsa – Villa’s own No 4 – before whipping a tightly-angled, 12-yarder across the face of Marco Bizot and into the far corner.
Timed at just 29 seconds, the Portuguese Under-21 international’s second strike in Claret & Blue was also the quickest goal in the Premier League this season and the Hammers fastest-ever in the competition.
“We started very well,” concurred Nuno. “We pressed high and scored but after taking the lead we were still not able to control and manage the game.”
Indeed, on eight minutes, John McGinn’s right-wing cross into the danger-zone was headed into his own net by Mavropanos as an airborne Ollie Watkins rose with the Greek international defender in anticipation.
Midway through the opening period, though, the alert Bowen restored West Ham’s advantage when he re-directed a low 18-yarder from the recalled Freddie Potts beyond Bizot to take his tally to five for the season.
“In the first-half, we had more energy than Aston Villa,” insisted the Hammers head coach. “The message at half-time was clear - kill the game. Unfortunately, we couldn’t then go on to control the second half.”
Indeed, just five minutes after the restart, the lackadaisical Lucas Paquetá was ambushed by McGinn, who invited Youri Tielemans to drill a low right-wing cross towards Rogers and he spun and fired past Alphonse Areola from eight yards.
Then, with 11 minutes remaining, Rogers collected Victor Lindelof’s searching through-ball before curling an unstoppable 25-yarder around Jean-Clair Todibo and over the flailing right-glove of Areola.
Rogers’ stunning strike made it nine straight victories in all competitions for third-placed Villa.
Certainly, it does not get any easier for the Hammers who – three points adrift of safety in 18th-spot – look destined to go into Christmas in the dreaded drop-zone given they now face a daunting journey to second-placed Manchester City on Saturday (kick off 3 pm).
“We put in a good performance with energy, hard-work and discipline but we gave so much space to our opponents to let them back into the game and that’s what upsets me the most,” concluded Nuno having seen his team surrender leads for the second Sunday in succession.
“It’s about our decision-making as a team, not just as individuals. I can’t give a proper answer or offer a solution and it is something that we must continue to work on. Victories are getting away from us.”
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