Leon Bailey celebrates with his teammates after scoring Aston Villa’s fourth goal against West Ham United.
A deflected shot by Jarrod Bowen offered the visitors a lifeline and they threatened to draw level before Ollie Watkins struck with an exquisite finish after a counter-attack. They finished seventh last season to qualify for Europe and this time look capable of exceeding that.They have scored 17 goals in their four home league matches this season, more than any other club in the top flight, conceding just three in the process.
“For me, to play at home is always something special. We are feeling very good at home with our fans.”Villa peppered West Ham’s goal early on, with Alphonse Areola making a superb save to keep out a Luiz curler before Watkins wasted a golden chance to open the scoring. Bowen replied for West Ham five minutes later when his shot took a big deflection off Pau Torres and spun past goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.