David Moyes has paid tribute to Aston Villa’s impressive work in the transfer market after Monday’s nail-biting 2-1 Premier League triumph at the London Stadium, while speaking to the Hammers’ website.
As centre-back Angelo Ogbonna admitted after a result that lifts West Ham into fifth place, lady luck certainly sat in their corner last night.
Aston Villa mustered 16 shots to six and dominated 66 per cent of the possession in East London. But, thanks to an Ogbonna effort and a Jarrod Bowen flick at the start of either half, headed back to the Midlands with nothing to show for a fine team performance.
Jack Grealish sparkled throughout and scored another brilliant goal. But, with Trezeguet scuffing a sitter at Lukasz Fabianski and Ollie Watkins smashing a penalty against the bar, Aston Villa are nursing a fourth defeat in their last five games.
Moyes, however, is expecting Dean Smith’s side to rediscover their form on the pitch after some fine work off it in recent months.
“Aston Villa have beaten some good teams this year and they were unbeaten away from home and hadn’t conceded a goal away from home, so for us to get a couple of goals tonight was good,” said the former Everton and Manchester United boss.
“It was always going to be tight because Villa are a good team and I think we’ve got a good team. They’ve made some really good signings and have got one or two really good individuals who can hurt you and we were aware of that, and they caused some problems tonight, they really did.
“I think both teams know they have improved and are fighting for things and we want to be competitive as much as we can, and we tried to do that.”
It might have been a miserable night for £28 million record signing Watkins, who has now missed four of his last six penalties, but the quicksilver forward has still been a big success since arriving from Brentford.
The same can be said about Emi Martinez, Matty Cash and Ross Barkley, all of whom have strolled into Smith’s starting XI and strengthening the spine of a once-vulnerable Villa side.
Villa might have picked up three points from the last 15, but no one is really anticipating another relegation dogfight this season.
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