One for the purists and those of a more trashy persuasion, this game had the lot. Goals, tackles, tricks, spot-kicks, feigning and fouls. There was also a lengthy cameo for a fan favourite; the video-adjudicated fractional offside. It was a contest that could have broken any which way but it did so in West Ham’s favour.
They move up to fifth in the table, after a goal at the start of each half from Angelo Ogbonna and Jarrod Bowen proved enough to hold off a rampant Jack Grealish and a cursed Ollie Watkins. The Villa striker fired a penalty against the crossbar and had a goal ruled out for the slow, infuriating reasons mentioned above.