Jhon Durán comes off the bench to hit Aston Villa winner against West Ham
It was the canny finish Unai Emery no doubt expected from his “finisher” after the Villa manager returned Ollie Watkins to his usual club role as a starter. All summer, Watkins seemed to be Gareth Southgate’s go-to striking understudy. But it was only when he was replaced by Jhon Durán that Villa were able to spoil Julen Lopetegui’s first game in charge of a revamped West Ham.
It was no more than Villa deserved after dominating the game either side of a controversial penalty decision against Matty Cash that could so easily have robbed Villa of a win. Replays showed there was very little in the coming together between the defender and Tomas Soucek that gave Lucas Paquetá the chance to level from the spot.
