West Ham United produced a superb performance on Sunday, with substitute Manuel Lanzini making a real impact in the 4-1 win over Aston Villa.
The Hammers took the lead through Ben Johnson, and whilst Ollie Watkins brought Villa level, West Ham quickly reasserted their dominance with a Declan Rice goal.
Pablo Fornals added a third and Jarrod Bowen grabbed the fourth, securing a big win over 10-man Villa following Ezri Konsa’s red card.
West Ham sit fourth in the Premier League table. They’re now level on points with Manchester City, two points adrift of Liverpool and five shy of Chelsea.
With Leicester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal all having their issues this season, West Ham will have real belief that they can land a top four finish.
Lanzini makes big impact for West Ham
All the creativity has come through Pablo Fornals, Said Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen this season, so some may have forgotten about Manuel Lanzini’s quality.
The Argentinian playmaker had only played 21 minutes of Premier League action across four substitute appearances before yesterday.
However, Lanzini played more than 25 minutes against Villa and certainly used his time to great effect.
Lanzini was incredibly unselfish as he set up Bowen for number four despite having a chance to shoot.
West Ham fans took to Twitter to suggest that Lanzini is ‘back to his best’ and changed the tempo of the game for the Hammers.
Others called Lanzini a ‘diamond’, and now believe he should be given more chances under David Moyes.
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