View: 93% pass accuracy, one assist – West Ham ace proves PL class v Aston Villa
It was the Jesse Lingard show at Villa Park on Wednesday but another West Ham ace was quietly pulling the strings to continue their march to Europe.
No one can deprive Lingard of the plaudits after his debut double powered the side to a 3-1 victory against Aston Villa but Said Benrahma once again showed he is becoming one of the main men and a mainstay in this impressive Irons team.
It is a far cry from the early couple of months of Benrahma’s time at the London Stadium where he failed to start a game until December 11 against Leeds United.
In fact it was the reverse game against Villa where he helped plant the seed in the manager’s mind that he was ready for the Premier League.
He came on at half time of this game on November 30 and made an instant impact as he assisted Jarrod Bowen barely a minute after the restart, helping them to a 2-1 win.
He has now started seven of West Ham’s last eight fixtures, only dropping out of the side against Doncaster Rovers in the FA Cup as David Moyes rung the changes to keep his team fresh.
This is no mean feat with Moyes able to call upon Pablo Fornals, Andriy Yarmolenko and Manuel Lanzini as well as Lingard and Bowen in the attacking midfield slots, but Benrahma is showing he has made the step up with consummate ease.
Benrahma is yet to score for the Hammers but he is certainly proving himself to be a creative outlet.
His assist for Tomas Soucek’s opener on Wednesday was his third of the season and only Aaron Creswell has more in the Premier League for West Ham.
The Algerian made more key passes (three) than anyone on his team while his 93.3% pass accuracy was the highest of any starter on the pitch [WhoScored].
Perhaps one surprise was his lack of dribbles (zero completed from one attempted) but this shows the winger is not a one-dimensional player and has more than just tricks in his locker.
An assist and the highest pass accuracy shows his comfort on the ball and unwillingness to give the ball away cheaply.
Benrahma is not famed for his defensive discipline but in a David Moyes side you have to do your fair shift of duties and he is rising to these demands with aplomb.
Per Wyscout he made four recoveries against Villa with three coming in the opposition half, a figure he has not bettered all season.
This shows his eagerness to help press from the front and win the ball back as quickly as possible for his side.
He also won 50% of his duels (three out of six) with the same figure for loose ball duels won (two out of four), an improvement on his season total which stands at 27.3%.
Furthermore against Villa Benrahma made two passes to the penalty area – he has not delivered more in a game this season.
He also gained a ‘second assist’ for his role in the build-up to Lingard’s first goal as he powered from deep inside his own half before picking out Michail Antonio who duly found the Manchester United loanee to fire home.
Antonio may have helped himself to two assists while Lingard bagged twice but make no mistake that Benrahma is the man knitting all of this together.
It is not a tag he is used to after starring as Brentford’s main man in the Championship over recent few seasons but Benrahma may actually be the Iron’s unheralded star.
His goal will come but for now sit back and rejoice in his creativity as the mercurial Benrahma starts to light up the Premier League and terrorise opposition defences.
In other West Ham news, fans react to Jesse Lingard’s Irons debut delight.