Aston Villa clinched a crucial victory over West Ham, on the opening day of the Premier League season, thanks to a late strike from Jhon Duran.
The forward found the net in the 79th minute, sealing the win after Lucas Paquetá had earlier drawn West Ham level, nullifying Amadou Onana’s early effort.
Villa came out of the gates strongly, mirroring the intensity with which they concluded their 2023/24 campaign.
Within just four minutes, they were ahead when new signing Amadou Onana rose above the West Ham defense to head in a precise cross from Youri Tielemans.
The early goal set the tone for what appeared to be a dominant performance from the home side.
They nearly doubled their lead when Leon Bailey latched onto Matty Cash’s through ball, skillfully rounding the goalkeeper. However, his effort from a tight angle only managed to clip the post, much to the dismay of the Villa supporters.
At this juncture, West Ham seemed poised for a difficult outing, as Villa, orchestrated by the influential Tielemans, tightened their grip on the match.
However, the tide began to turn in the 37th minute. The referee awarded West Ham a penalty after ruling that Matty Cash had fouled Tomáš Souček inside the box.
Despite having a quiet game up to that point, Lucas Paquetá stepped up and confidently dispatched the spot-kick, altering the momentum of the contest and sending the teams into halftime with the scores level.
The second half saw Ghanaian international Mohammed Kudus begin to assert his influence, creating problems for Cash and the rest of the Villa defense.
The match evolved into a more balanced affair, with both sides vying for control.
Unai Emery, eager to regain the upper hand, made a decisive double substitution with 30 minutes remaining.
He brought on Jacob Ramsey and Jhon Duran in place of Ollie Watkins and John McGinn, a move that would ultimately pay off.
Ramsey’s sharp play set up Duran, who made no mistake in firing Villa back into the lead with just 11 minutes left on the clock, securing a hard-fought win for the hosts.
