Ollie Watkins puts seal on Villa’s win over West Ham after England omission
While Ollie Watkins gave the most articulate response to his omission from the England squad with the goal that clinched this confirmation of Aston Villa’s place in the top four, ending their three-game losing sequence in the Premier League, the most rousing noise around Villa Park arrived when Youri Tielemans replaced John McGinn a minute earlier. The whole of the ground took to their feet and cheered the Belgian’s name more loudly than anyone else’s as he made his return after two months out with an ankle injury.
On a day when McGinn, Villa’s inspirational captain, followed up his opening goal in the Europa League victory over Lille on Thursday with another nerve-settling strike here, the returning strength and quality of Unai Emery’s squad offers substantial evidence that they can maintain their two-pronged approach for Champions League qualification. It is now 18 days until Villa play again, when they visit Bologna in the first leg of their third successive European quarter-final, and their fans can bask in a satisfying glow until then, and quite possibly beyond. Villa are five points clear of Liverpool in fifth place and were good value for this return to winning home ways in the league.
