Jarrod Bowen 3/10 shocker, Alphonse Areola 7/10 MOTM – West Ham United player ratings v Aston Villa
West Ham put in a disappointing second-half performance as they were held to a draw against Aston Villa on Sunday (17 March).
Michail Antonio handed the Hammers the lead in the first half with a superb diving header against Villa before seeing a potential second goal ruled out after the break.
There was late drama as Tomas Soucek was denied a winning goal for David Moyes’s side after Nicolo Zaniolo equalised for the Villans, with the score ending 1-1 at the London Stadium.
Here West Ham Zone rates the players out of 10 for their performances.
Alphonse Areola – 7
It was yet another impressive performance from Areola as he continues to show why he is the number one despite pressure from veteran keeper Lukasz Fabianski. Although he was slightly sloppy in possession as he recorded just a 61 per cent pass success rate, the Frenchman made four smart stops to deny the Villa forwards. But he couldn’t do anything to keep out Zaniolo’s close-range strike [SofaScore].
Vladimir Coufal – 7
Coufal was actually one of the Hammers’ biggest threats going forward in the first half and it was his inch-perfect cross that found Antonio for the opener. The Czech right-back was also successful in all of his ground duels as he kept things tight at the back and had one shot on target for his side.
Konstantinos Mavropanos – 6
The Greek centre-back appears to have jumped ahead of Nayef Aguerd in the pecking order and he backed up Moyes’ decision once again against Villa with a decent performance. He won two of his three aerial duels and made three clearances while dealing well with the threats posed by Ollie Watkins.
Kurt Zouma – 6
It was a similar performance from Zouma as Mavropanos. The Hammers captain was pretty solid with his defensive work as he made five clearances and one tackle. The defender needs to be better on the ball, though, having recorded just a 67 per cent pass accuracy.
Emerson (Off for Cresswell ’83) – 4
The left-back returned to the side in place of Aaron Cresswell after his teammate had put in a superb performance against Freiburg. The Italian wasn’t always convincing with his defensive duties, having been dribbled past three times, but he did make a crucial block in the second half to deny Leon Bailey. In all honesty, it wasn’t the best performance from him as he didn’t look completely fit following his injury.
West Ham midfield looked strong against Aston Villa
Edson Alvarez – 7
It was a typical Alvarez performance. Strong in the tackle and excellent on the ball in midfield. The Mexican recorded a 94 per cent pass accuracy, made two tackles, one block and one interception. But he would’ve liked to have done better with the equalising goal as he allowed Moussa Diaby too much space to pull the ball back for his teammate.
Tomas Soucek – 7
Soucek partnered his teammate well in the middle of the park against a good side, having put in a battling display. Although he didn’t get forward as much as he usually does, the Czech made six clearances, blocked two shots and made one interception.
Mixed performances from West Ham attackers
Mohammed Kudus – 4
It was a pretty quiet afternoon by Kudus’ standards. After scoring two goals in the victory over Freiburg, more would have been expected of the Ghanaian. But he just couldn’t quite get going, failing to find a teammate with any of his four crosses and winning just six of his 14 ground duels. There will be much better days ahead for the winger.
Lucas Paqueta (Off for Ward-Prowse ’83) – 6
As usual, Paqueta had some nice moments throughout the afternoon, making two key passes and finding a teammate with four of his five long balls. But he was slightly sloppy in possession at times, which comes with the territory with his kind of game, as he recorded just a 74 per cent pass success rate and gave away the ball 14 times.
Jarrod Bowen – 3
Bowen won’t be too impressed by his afternoon. The winger was starved of the ball and, despite making three key passes, he didn’t have a single shot and was successful with just two out of his five attempted dribbles as he recorded a 71 per cent pass success rate. The England international has much higher standards than that.
Michail Antonio (Off for Johnson ’66) – 7
It was another good performance from Antonio as he continued to ramp up his return from injury. The forward scored a superb header and caused the Villa defenders a few problems throughout the afternoon. He made one key pass and was successful with 50 per cent of his dribbles. It was perhaps a mistake by Moyes to take him off when the Irons were ahead.
Subs
Ben Johnson (On for Antonio ’66) – 4
It wasn’t the best performance from Johnson as he won just three of his seven duels. He was full of energy, but he maybe shouldn’t have come on for an attacking player.
James Ward-Prowse (On for Paqueta ’83) – N/A
Aaron Cresswell (On for Emerson ’83) – N/A
In other West Ham news, Jim White and Simon Jordan have been caught in an explosive row over a Hammers controversy.
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