Aston Villa twice came from behind to win at West Ham, which was their seventh match in three weeks
Aston Villa earned a ninth win in a row at West Ham(Image: SmartFrame/Pro Sports Images)
Looking in from the outside, high-flying Aston Villa winning at relegation-threatened West Ham might not seem a particularly impressive feat for Unai Emery’s side.
You’d be very wrong to make that assumption without context, however, as this is one of the club’s biggest wins of the season so far.
Without first-choice goalkeeper Emi Martinez and Pau Torres – whose importance to the team in recent months cannot be overstated – Villa still claimed all three points.
West Ham have improved under Nuno, having lost just one of their last six matches coming into this game.
Twice coming from behind, Villa showed they have character in abundance, along with a wealth of individual quality.
In fact, today marked only the second time Villa have won a Premier League game after falling behind twice, the previous instance being back in September 2013 at home to Manchester City.
Morgan Rogers scored another contender for goal of the season, using a technique similar to the one he applied against Tottenham, contributing to another comeback win for Villa in the league.
This result leaves Villa with a seven-point cushion above sixth place, ahead of Manchester United hosting Bournemouth on Monday night. Of course, the gap to top spot – currently occupied by Arsenal – remains just three points.
What makes this afternoon’s result even more impressive, considering the manner of the win, is that this was Villa’s seventh match in just three weeks. Now, they can look forward to a midweek break before hosting United next Sunday.
Emery said in his pre-match press conference that his side weren’t feeling any pressure amid chatter about a possible title race, and it’s no wonder, considering the scrutiny they faced after failing to win at Sunderland back in September.
“We’re not looking at that at all. People were talking about relegation before so we are not talking about that,” Rogers told the BBC about the title race chat after Villa’s win at the London Stadium.
“It is about being as consistent as possible. At the moment we are in a great run so let’s see where that takes us.
“We need to work on our starts because there will be times when we don’t have enough to get back into the game. We kept our composure and responded pretty quickly but you don’t want to start like that if you can help it.
Speaking about his goal, he added: “I’m pretty confident right now, scoring a few lately. If I score and we win then I am happy. I want to score as much as possible and help the team.”
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