Aston Villa 4-1 West Ham United

Aston Villa ended an eight-year wait for a win against West Ham United as they racked up an eleventh consecutive home victory in the Premier League.

Douglas Luiz scored for the sixth league game running at Villa Park to put the hosts ahead on the half hour mark, drilling an effort past Alphonse Areola from the edge of the box.

The Brazilian doubled his tally with a penalty seven minutes into the second half before the Hammers hit back with a heavily deflected Jarrod Bowen effort.

With just over 15 minutes to play, Ollie Watkins put the game beyond the visitors when he smashed a shot into the roof of the net.

And substitute Leon Bailey added gloss to the scoreline when he combined with Youri Tielemans before curling home a fourth in the dying minutes. 

Villa began the day looking to end a torrid run against the Hammers that spanned ten winless matches and stretched back to May 2015 when Tom Cleverley netted the winner in a 1-0 win in B6.

And the hosts came close to taking the lead after 11 minutes when Luiz took aim from distance, curling an effort that was bound for the top corner before Areola clawed it away with a spectacular save.

Watkins scored for England during the international break, but he was kicking himself when he pulled a shot wide from seven yards out after superbly collecting Moussa Diaby’s drilled pass.

The Hammers were happy to sit back and soak up the pressure as the half wore on, with Villa patiently probing from side-to-side.

And as the clock ticked into the 30^th minute, the home team found a way through when Luiz drove a shot past Areola from the edge of the box.

Watkins hit a shot into the side netting as Villa tried but failed to add to their lead before the break.

However, they didn’t have to wait long into the second half before Villa Park erupted once more after Luiz netted his sixth goal of the campaign, smashing a penalty past Areola.

The spot kick was the result of some great anticipation from Ezri Konsa, who nipped in ahead of Edson Alvarez to intercept a loose pass from Lucas Paqueta before the former tripped him up.

West Ham had failed to seriously trouble Emi Martinez before a huge slice of luck helped them beat the Argentine on 56 minutes.

Jarrod Bowen cut in from the right and unleashed a shot that was destined for the middle of the goal, changing direction via a wicked deflection off Torres and spinning into the far corner.

The visitors proceeded to enjoy their best spell of the match, and they were on the front foot when Villa launched a ruthless counter-attack that restored their two-goal advantage.

John McGinn picked up the ball centrally and lofted a through ball into the channel for Watkins to run onto. The striker advanced into the box and put Kurt Zouma off balance with a stepover before blasting a left-foot shot into the roof of the net.

Martinez produced a smart stop from Michail Antonio before the Villans wrapped up all three points when Bailey collected Tielemans’ pass and wriggled free, curling a shot past Areola.