March 22, (THEWILL) — Aston Villa defeated West Ham 2-0 on Sunday, ending a three-match losing run in the English Premier League at a timely moment, with several rivals dropping points in the race for a European berth.
John McGinn broke the deadlock in the 15th minute, curling into the net from the edge of the area after Jadon Sancho played him in from a cleverly worked short free-kick. West Ham goalkeeper Mads Hermansen had earlier tipped away a long-range effort from Lucas Digne, while Konstantinos Mavropanos twice cleared off the line to keep the visitors in contention during the first half.
Ollie Watkins, without a League goal since late January, doubled the advantage in the 68th minute. The forward pounced on a rebound from Morgan Rogers’ blocked effort and drove emphatically into the roof of the net.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s West Ham pushed for a way back into the contest but failed to seriously test Emiliano Martinez throughout. The defeat left them still in the relegation zone, a position they could have vacated had Tottenham not earlier lost to Nottingham Forest.
Liverpool, Chelsea and Brentford all failed to win their respective fixtures over the weekend, making Villa’s victory all the more valuable in the push for UEFA Champions League qualification.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
