By Saikat Mandal

28th Aug, 2022 | 4:15pm

Pien Meulensteen reacts to Ben Johnson injury in West Ham United win v Aston Villa

West Ham defender Ben Johnson picked up an injury and he was replaced in the first half during a 1-0 win over Aston Villa at Villa Park.

Pien Meulensteen while commentating on the game on the Premier League global feed on 28 August described it as a “real big shame” as Johnson was taken off.

Pablo Fornals scored in the second half to earn the first win for the Hammers this season in the league.

“Johnson clutching his hamstring. Only 20 minutes gone. That’s a real big shame for him,” said Meulensteen, who also works for Sky Sports, said on the Premier League global feed (14:21 pm).

Huge win

The injury to Johnson will come as a blow for the Hammers, but David Moyes will hope that it’s not serious.

He was given an ice pack straight away, and it appears that he picked up a hamstring injury. Vladimir Coufal replaced him, and he did really well.

The first half was really poor, especially from West Ham. However, whatever David Moyes said at the break really worked out for them, as they came out with a proper plan and got the win.

Of course, it needed a bit of luck with Pablo Fornals’ effort took a deflection before looping into the net, but the Hammers created better opportunities in the second half.

Jarrod Bowen got himself in a very good scoring position but he couldn’t hit the target. The introduction of Said Benrahma made a big difference to the game.

He was absolutely immense during the game, and looked lively in the second half. Michail Antonio, Kurt Zouma, and Thilo Kehrer were also superb.