‘Incredible’ West Ham United achievement highlighted by Aston Villa defeat
The Athletic journalist Gregg Evans believes the defeat suffered by Aston Villa against Legia Warsaw only highlights the “incredible” feat achieved by West Ham in Europe last season.
Villa were beaten 3-2 by Legia at the Polish Army Stadium in their opening Europa Conference League tie on Thursday [21 September].
It was a stark reality check for the Villans, who will be hoping to follow in the steps of fellow Premier League side West Ham in lifting the trophy.
United did so last season without losing a match, winning 12 and drawing one of their 13 matches, which now looks all the more impressive.
Evans posted on Twitter on Friday [23 September]: “Really difficult game for #AVFC in their opening ECL game.
“Just shows how incredible it was that West Ham didn’t lose a game last season.”
Moyes’ Invincibles
West Ham fans did not really know what to make of UEFA’s tertiary club competition upon entering last season, having experienced the more illustrious Europa League the season before.
However, after beating FCSB, Silkeborg and Anderlecht home and away in the group phase, before seeing off AEK Larnaca comfortably in the first knockout round, excitement levels soon began to rise.
That momentum continued with a 5-2 aggregate victory over Gent and a 3-1 win against AZ over two legs, setting up a showdown with Fiorentina in Prague that West Ham supporters will remember fondly for a lifetime.
While many played down the magnitude of the achievement – it was only the second year of the competition’s existence, after all – the struggles of other British sides on the continent shows just how tough it is to go a whole European campaign unbeaten.
After recovering to beat Backa Topola 3-1 in their Europa League opener on Thursday [21 September], let’s hope for another Invincibles campaign from David Moyes’ men.
In other West Ham news, a United player had an “absolute shocker” in the win over Backa Topola.