Aston Villa 3-2 West Ham United
By The SCM Sport Team
The dreaded ‘Stadium Factor’ struck West Ham United again yesterday as a five-goal thriller at the London Stadium saw the Hammers throw away the lead twice to hand high-flying Aston Villa a precious 3-2 victory.
The cavernous former Olympic venue, a constant source of debate among the Claret and Blue faithful, was buzzing after Mateus Fernandes rocketed the ball home in the fastest goal of the Premier League season—a mere 29 seconds! Jarrod Bowen then restored the lead to make it 2-1 after Villa’s Dinos Mavropanos bizarrely turned the ball into his own net.
But despite the electric start and the crowd paying an emotional pre-match tribute, the wide-open spaces of the London Stadium once again seemed to suck the momentum out of Nuno Espírito Santo’s men.
Villa’s rising star, Morgan Rogers, silenced the home support in the second half.
He first brought Villa level with a smart finish and then—with just 11 minutes to go—unleashed a stunning, dipping rocket from nearly 25 yards that flew past Alphonse Areola for the 3-2 winner!
The brilliant brace from Rogers capped an incredible comeback that left the Hammers in the thick of the relegation dogfight, still clinging to 18th place.
The defeat is a bitter pill for West Ham, who had been hoping to build on a recent resurgence. But the atmosphere at the vast, bowl-like London Stadium often struggles to match the intensity of the old Boleyn Ground, and yesterday, that lack of fortress feeling proved fatal as Villa’s resilience shone through.
Unai Emery’s Villans, now sitting pretty in third, proved they have the steel to match their style, turning the atmosphere from a roaring cauldron of Claret and Blue hope into stunned silence with Rogers’ late, unstoppable strike.
For West Ham, it’s back to the drawing board and a familiar question: is the magnificent London Stadium truly their home, or is it just the place where their leads go to die?
