New Delhi: The final game of the first Saturday of the new Premier League season concluded with an exciting clash between two teams that wear Claret and Blue as West Ham hosted Aston Villa. Both sides had been extremely busy in the transfer market, bringing in a combined 16 players to their clubs, making some of the best transfers in the Premier League this window.
This also marked Julen Lopetegui’s debut game as West Ham boss and decided to leave out a lot of his new signings on the bench, trusting the options that were already at the club before he joined. Jean Claire Todibo, Niklas Fullkrug, Crysencio Summervile, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka were all named on the bench leaving Max Kilman and Guido Rodriguez as the only two new signings that started for the Hammers.
Unai Emery also decided to take a similar approach to his new signings as even he opted out of playing a lot of his new players, with only Amadou Onana starting for the Villans. Ross Barkley, Jaden Philogene, and Ian Maatsen all started the game on the bench for Emery’s side. The game was off to a perfect start for the visitors as they had the lead within the first few minutes of the game.
Villa won a corner early in the game which was played into the box by Youri Tielemans and new signing Onana rose highest in the box to head the ball into the back of the net, giving the visitors an early lead and marking his professional debut for the club with a goal. That goal set the tone for the rest of the half as it proved to be an action-packed affair that involved a lot of goal-mouth action.
Onana’s goal had Villa sitting comfortably but they had an amazing opportunity to double their lead at the 22nd-minute mark when Leon Bailey rounded the West Ham keeper in the box, leaving him with an open goal to face. However, instead of playing the ball to an unmarked Ollie Watkins, Bailey tried to shoot past Max Kilman, who was trying to block the shot, from a tight angle but could only find the edge of the post.
West Ham United’s Lucas Paqueta celebrates scoring their side’s first goal of the game from the penalty spot during the Premier League match at the London Stadium. (Photo by John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images)
West Ham seemed largely missing in the first half, being outplayed by the Villans for the majority of the first half but they were thrown a lifeline in the 35th minute after a horrible challenge from Matty Cash on Tomas Soucek in the penalty box resulted in the referee blowing his whistle and pointing at the spot. A VAR check confirmed the referee’s decision and the resulting penalty was cool-ly tucked away by Lucas Paqueta, ensuring that the half ended on level terms.
The second half started brightly for the hosts as Mo Kudus started becoming a sore spot in the Aston Villa defence and was also knocking at their door trying to make something for his team. Kudus was West Ham’s best attacker on the pitch and was always causing trouble for the opposition. Villa responded by creating chances of their own and could’ve regained the lead in the 66th minute if Jacob Ramsey had laid the ball off to Jhon Duran but instead chose to shoot and ultimately hit the side netting.
15 minutes later, Ramsey would learn from his earlier mistake when Pau Torres played a lofted through ball from the left of Villa’s attack, which was controlled well by the substitute Ian Maatsen, who played a first-time pass to Ramsey and this time, he produced a brilliant cut back to Duran whose powerful shot went between Areola’s legs and into the back of the West Ham net.
As the clock ticked towards the 90-minute mark, Summerville played a great cross inside the Aston Villa box but the resulting header from Danny Ings was too close to Emi Martinez, who lept and held onto the ball well. The Hammers had another opportunity to equalize in the dying minutes of the match when Kudus played a cross inside the box but Soucek’s initial header sent the ball straight up in the air and then he scuffed his shot when the ball was almost at the goal-line.
Man of the Match
Amadou Onana celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the Premier League match between West Ham United FC and Aston Villa FC at London Stadium on August 17, 2024, in London, England. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
The only new Villa signing that started, also proved to be the best player on the field today as Amadou Onana put in a commanding display on his Villa debut. He put in an excellent performance as apart from scoring the opener, he was involved all over the pitch for Villa. He completed 30 out of his 31 passes, maintaining an accuracy of 97% and also garnered 50 touches in the game, scoring with his only touch inside the penalty box.
Apart from his attacking contributions, his defensive numbers absolutely showcased class. He produced eight defensive actions in total, making six recoveries and two interceptions while also getting in three clearances. He was even fouled thrice by the opposition and won 75% of his ground duels. The Belgian midfielder won 9 out of his 15 duels throughout the game, the joint-most by any player in the match, alongside his West Ham counterpart, Tomas Soucek.
The Villans left it late to seal the three points for their side, ruining Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham debut as they won 2-1 at the London Stadium. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
