Aston Villa 4-1 West Ham: Player ratings as Villans crush sorry Hammers

Aston Villa were once again in a rampant mood at Villa Park as they thumped West Ham 4-1 on Sunday afternoon.

Douglas Luiz, Ollie Watkins, and Leon Bailey all got on the scoresheet for the hosts as they moved into fifth place in the Premier League table — just two points adrift of Manchester City at the summit.

The hosts were quite brilliant and far too good for a sluggish West Ham outfit that had little of the game other than the period succeeding Jarrod Bowen's goal.

The hosts seemed intent on maintaining their 100% record at Villa Park, and flew out of the blocks. While David Moyes' West Ham have often been credited for their robustness, Villa had their way with the Hammers in the opening exchanges.

The visitors' midfield couldn't cope with the positions taken up by Nicolo Zaniolo and Moussa Diaby, who relentlessly received possession in the half-spaces before igniting attacks. The hosts were slick across the board, while West Ham struggled to penetrate a high, but superbly drilled, Villa backline.

Villa's superiority rendered Luiz's opener inevitable, but his strike from distance did facilitate an improvement from Moyes' side as they rallied at the end of the first half.

However, when the hosts doubled their lead quickly after the restart from the penalty spot, it looked a long way back for West Ham. But, a Bowen hit-and-hope which deflected cruelly off Pau Torres swiftly brought them back into the game. Bowen's strike ignited the visitors, who finally took control from the hosts.

But, when it looked as if West Ham were closing in on an unlikely leveller, Ollie Watkins rounded off a devastating two-pass transition (including a loose Mohammed Kudus touch) which gave Villa breathing room once more. Villa's stellar