Pundits heap praise on Aston Villa who are "a joy to watch"

Aston Villa got their 2024/25 season off to a winning start with a 2-1 win away at West Ham United. The man who almost signed for the Hammers just a couple of weeks away ended up being the unlikely hero as Jhon Duran's late goal secured the three points for Villa.

The victory was Villa's first opening day success since beating Sheffield United 1-0 back in September 2020 and the pundits and fans were full of praise for the team. The game was shown live on Sky Sports and Jamie Redknapp had this to say post-match:

""They have such a good understanding of how they play. I am a big believer in what they do at Aston Villa and Unai Emery has done a great job. What a well coached team they are and they're a joy to watch.""

The first half was dominated by the away side who took an early lead through Amadou Onana. Villa's new £50 million man leaped the highest from Youri Tieleman's perfectly placed in-swinging corner to give Villa the early advantage. Following that early goal, Villa continued to create chances and could easily have seen their lead extended. Morgan Rogers, who put in a superb performance, glided past several defenders before seeing his left-footed effort saved as it was heading into the bottom corner. Leon Bailey also hit the post after taking the ball round the keeper and narrowly missing from a tight angle before John McGinn slid the ball marginally past the post from the edge of the box.

Typically after not taking their chances Villa squandered the lead after Matty Cash gave away a penalty after fouling Tomas Soucek inside the area. Cash appeared to get a touch on the ball before colliding with the Hammers midfielder and the referee pointed to the spot. The VAR team decided not to intervene on this occasion, wrongly to the opinion of many on social media, and Lucas Paqueta tucked away the penalty.

The second half saw West Ham grow into the game in the opening stages but without really troubling Emi Martinez in the Villa goal. Unai Emery decided to replace John McGinn and Ollie Watkins on the hour mark and introduce Jacob Ramsey and Jhon Duran to the game. Both had an immediate impact and got the Villa attack going again. Ian Maatsen was also introduced to the game moments later.

The three changes were inspired and evidenced the good transfer business conducted so far. The Villa bench looked far stronger in terms of depth than last season. Duran almost gave Villa the lead soon after coming on after timing his run perfectly in behind the West Ham defence, latching onto a Maatsen through ball but only finding the side netting when one-on-one with Areola. The second goal finally, and deservedly, came with ten minutes to play. Pau Torres, in typical Torres fashion, played a lovely ball to Maatsen out wide. The Dutch full-back provided an excuqisite first time pass into the path of Jacob Ramsey who pulled the ball back for Duran who drilled the ball through the keepers legs from just inside the area. Duran, the man who had caused anger amongst the Villa fans over the summer with his off-field antics, had sent the Villa faithful into delirium and gave the team all three points.

Duran's celebration was an apologetic one to the Villa fans and seemed to suggest that he is here to stay. Unai Emery also confirmed after the match that he and the club want to keep the Colombian international. When asked where Villa could find a 20-year-old of Duran's quality, Jamie Redknapp had this to say:

""I just don't think you do. It's very difficult. How can you get rid of him when he has such quality?""

Villa currently sit fourth in the table after Saturday's results and will be looking to get their first home win of the season next weekend against Arsenal, who beat Wolves 2-0 yesterday afternoon.

UTV