West Ham United faced off against Aston Villa in the Premier League earlier tonight hoping to pick up three points on the road. The home side began the match on the front foot and dominated during the early stages of the contest. However, the Hammers came back and got a foothold in the game themselves. Neither side did enough to register a goal in the first half.
Both teams fought tooth and nail after the half-time break but lacked the cutting edge in the final third. Arthur Masuaku was sent off in the 67th minute which gave Dean Smith’s men a numerical advantage for the final quarter of the game. However, West Ham did not back down from the challenge and managed to claim a scoreless draw at Villa Park.
Let’s take a look at how each West Ham player performed during the match against the Villans.
GK: Lukasz Fabianski – 7.5/10
The Polish keeper kept his team in the contest in the first half as he made two world-class saves to keep the Villans at bay. He was hardly troubled in the second half.
RB: Ryan Fredericks – 6.5/10
The Hammers full-back worked his socks off during the game and was a decent outlet for his team down the right flank. He was also defensively solid inside his own half.
CB: Issa Diop – 7/10
The West Ham defensive ace began the contest a bit slow as he made a couple of poor mistakes in the first half. However, Diop was a rock at the back and put in a commanding display in the second half. He made some crucial interceptions especially when the Villans were attacking in numbers in the final quarter of the encounter.
CB: Angelo Ogbonna – 8/10
He completely neutralised the threat of Wesley Moraes and was a dominant presence inside his own box. Ogbonna made some brilliant last-ditch clearances as well to earn his side a clean sheet.
LB: Arthur Masuaku – 4/10
He was defensively vulnerable in the early stages of the match and let his team down by getting sent off in the 67th minute. The second yellow card looked incredibly weak though.
CDM: Declan Rice – 7/10
The Hammers starlet controlled the game well in midfield and broke down many Villa attacks. He managed to keep going strong even when his side were down to 10-men.
RM: Andriy Yarmolenko – 5/10
The Ukrainian wide player was a frustrated figure in the Villa half as he struggled to make a positive impact in the attacking third of the field.
CM: Mark Noble – 6.5/10
The English veteran put in a tireless display but failed to create anything meaningful going forward.
CM: Manuel Lanzini – 7/10
He was always willing to take on his marker and created some decent openings for others around him going forward. Lanzini is slowly but surely returing to his old form which will please Pellegrini.
LM: Felipe Anderson – 6/10
The former Serie A star tried to do too many things and eventually ended up putting in a lacklustre performance in the first half. He ran out of stamina after the half-time break and was rightfully subbed by Pellegrini.
ST: Sébastien Haller – 7/10
The West Ham new signing failed to score during the contest. However, he did well to make a few dangerous runs and earn some freekicks when the going got tough following the dismissal of Masuaku in the second half.
Substitutes:
RM: Pablo Fornals – 5/10
It was all flash and no substance from him.
RB: Pablo Zabaleta – 7/10
The Argentine full-back brought some energy to the field and was a decent outlet down the wide areas.
CB: Fabian Balbuena – N/A
There was not enough time for him to influence the game.
