Aston Villa 4-1 West Ham: Douglas Luiz at the double

The sight of an England striker summoning thunderous force from within to leave the back of the net bulging felt fitting, given how Villa Park poignantly came together to remember Sir Bobby Charlton.

The sound of an entire stadium singing the name of that gentleman of the game sent shivers down the spine at the start of this match. By the end, Ollie Watkins had paid his own tribute in a way, using his weaker left foot to turn the ball into a blur as it whizzed beyond Alphonse Areola.

West Ham‘s goalkeeper stood no chance as Unai Emery, nearing his one-year anniversary in charge of Aston Villa, wildly celebrated their rise to fifth in the Premier League in his technical area. David Moyes, meanwhile, wore the face of someone aghast and astonished.

Moyes was unbeaten in his last 14 Premier League clashes with Villa, having not lost since a 1-0 defeat with Everton in August 2010. That curse was lifted and then some here.

West Ham never turned up here. As well as Watkins’ blast, Douglas Luiz scored twice and Leon Bailey once. Luiz is the darling of Villa Park, having scored in six consecutive Premier League appearances here.

Not all heroes wear capes, read one flag in the Holte End, accompanied by a picture of the Brazilian. Turns out they wear claret and blue, for this was a heroic performance which tore apart a West Ham team who had been in respectable form this season.

Villa’s fans delivered their customary roar once David Coote blew his whistle to start the game and were applauding their goalkeeper’s heroics after 45 seconds. Lucas Paqueta fed Jarrod Bowen, who forced Emiliano Martinez into an instinctive save.

Constantine Hatzidakis’s flag against Paqueta would have disallowed the goal for offside, but Martinez was not to know that.

In the 11th minute, a 25-yard curler from Luiz was destined for the top-right corner, only for a strong hand from Areola to divert it wide.

The replays of that save, shown on the Villa Park big screen, drew admiration from both sets of supporters. Rightly so, too, for it was a ridiculous display of athleticism. Areola then caught Ezri Konsa’s back-post volley from the corner.

As Villa imposed themselves, the visitors retreated towards their own box. When Moussa Diaby’s pass evaded Kurt Zouma, Watkins had only Areola to beat, but he scuffed his shot wide.

In the 30th minute, Villa opened the scoring courtesy of their weakest chance thus far. Luiz tried a low drive which skimmed along the slick surface and through the gloves of Areola.