Jhon Duran shows West Ham what they nearly had as Aston Villa win on the road

Posted Sunday, August 18, 2024 by PA

Jhon Duran climbed off the bench to sink the club who spent half the summer trying to sign him as Aston Villa secured a 2-1 win at West Ham.

Colombian striker Duran was so close to moving to east London this summer that he even had to be reprimanded by Villa after doing a ‘crossed Hammers’ gesture with his arms on social media.

However, new Hammers boss Julen Lopetegui could not agree a deal and opted to sign Germany forward Niclas Fullkrug.

That decision came back to bite him as Duran struck with 11 minutes left to deal the Spaniard a defeat in his opening Premier League match in charge.

Much has been made of West Ham’s spending this summer – they were among the busiest clubs in Europe with eight new signings – but it was a Villa new boy, Amadou Onana, who scored with almost his first touch before Lucas Paqueta hauled the hosts level with a penalty.

Lopetegui had revamped a defence that leaked 74 Premier League goals last season, but inside four minutes they had conceded their first of the new campaign.

Tomas Soucek gave away a needless corner, Youri Tielemans swung the ball in and former Everton midfielder Onana climbed above everyone to head in the opener.

With West Ham playing like a team of strangers – even though, of the raft of new recruits, only ex-Wolves defender Max Kilman and Argentina midfielder Guido Rodriguez started – Villa pushed for a second.

They should have got it when Leon Bailey chased a ball over the top from Matty Cash and did brilliantly to round Alphonse Areola.

However, from a tight – but by no means impossible – angle and with Kilman sliding in to cover, the Jamaica winger’s effort hit the foot of the near post.

But West Ham were thrown a lifeline when Cash clumsily brought down Soucek after he controlled the ball with his chest in the area.

Paqueta, playing under the cloud of a Football Association charge for allegedly getting booked deliberately, took the ball from new Hammers skipper Jarrod Bowen, did his trademark stop-start run up and coolly sent Emiliano Martinez the wrong way.

Unai Emery, the boss who has led Villa into the Champions League, took off England striker Ollie Watkins after only an hour and replaced him with Duran, while Lopetegui turned to £27million hitman Fullkrug.

But it was Duran who had the final word, pouncing from eight yards to tuck away Jacob Ramsey’s pull-back and seal a fine start to the season for the visitors.