Dion Dublin wowed by ‘beautiful’ West Ham moment in first-half v Aston Villa
Dion Dublin was blown away by the quality of the West Ham opening goal against Aston Villa on Friday.
Despite taking a risk with his team selection, Graham Potter made the perfect start to life at West Ham as his side took the lead in the 9th minute of their FA Cup third-round tie at Villa Park on 10 January – although a serious injury issue did slightly dampen the mood.
It was Lucas Paquetá who opened the scoring, with Dublin blown away by the quality of the strike.
While speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live [via BBC Sport, 10 January, 8:12 pm], the former Aston Villa striker said, “A great start.
“A ping across the pitch and Crysensio Summerville has Ian Maatsen in front of him and he waits, he plays a square ball across the box and Paqueta steers it into the gap. A beautiful finish.”
Graham Potter off to a flying start at West Ham
Potter would have been delighted to see Paquetá find the back of the net not long after kick-off on Friday.
Every manager wants to get off to a winning start at their new club, and Potter will be no different. However, an away trip to Villa was always going to be a difficult first match in charge, no matter the form of Unai Emery’s side.
Villa don’t often lose at home. Therefore, Potter would have no doubt had some nerves heading into the clash, and when his side took the lead, he would have at least been able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Potter is going to need time to make his mark at West Ham, with the Englishman potentially set to reunite with a backroom figure next season [via Sean Whetstone, 10 January].
Therefore, the outcome of the clash with Villa certainly won’t determine his time at the club. However, if the Hammers can hold on and get off to a winning start, it would at least be a nice little boost.
In other West Ham news, the club are in the hunt to sign a defender available for a seven-figure fee.
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