Jesse Lingard's debut double drives West Ham to victory at Aston Villa
Peter Lansley at Villa Park
Date Published: Wed 3 Feb 2021 22.22 GMT

Jesse Lingard rewarded David Moyes’s faith in rescuing him from his Manchester United doldrums with two debut goals in the win that means West Ham have achieved their highest top-flight points tally after 22 games since 1985-86.

As West Ham moved on to 38 points, only two behind fourth-placed Liverpool, Lingard, having signed on loan on Monday, provided signs of the spark that marked out his early-career promise in front of the watching England manager Gareth Southgate.

Lingard had not started a Premier League game for 13 months, and not appeared for his country since June 2019, but both goals were dispatched with a confidence to match his sprightly movement. West Ham have now won seven times in eight games in all competitions as they responded perfectly to Sunday’s 3-1 defeat by Liverpool.

Tomas Soucek had given West Ham the lead just after half-time before Lingard’s first goal arrived within five minutes. Villa hit back when Ollie Watkins gathered Jack Grealish’s pass to make it 2-1, but Lingard sealed the victory seven minutes from time to prompt his manager to suggest an international recall is distinctly possible.

“It was a brilliant debut,” Moyes said. “If he keeps playing as well as he did tonight, and keeps scoring two goals every game, he’ll do very well for West Ham. I was going to say unfortunately but if he continues to perform like that, he’ll be pushing for England as well.

“If he keeps up that form, it might be Gareth coming and knocking on his door again. He’ll have his own ambitions to show he’s at a level and tonight he showed a very good level. There’s lots of players who will be pushing for the Euros and why shouldn’t Jesse be among them if he keeps performing like he did tonight?”

Despite having only 179 minutes of cup action under his belt this season, Lingard was granted centre stage, playing in the hole just behind Michail Antonio. West Ham balanced their sense of adventure by playing a second right-back, recalling Ryan Fredericks to offer extra security against Jack Grealish.

There was little to choose between the teams in the first half. Dean Smith admitted his side fell below their usual tempo, however, and their defending was poor, especially against the counterttack early in the second half.

Antonio held the ball up off for Saïd Benrahma, impressing after his £20m move from Brentford, to play an astute ball down the inside-right channel where Soucek guided his right-foot shot low into the far bottom corner.

Despite having more than half an hour to chase an equaliser, Villa committed men forward in kamikaze fashion. West Ham broke over the halfway line with three players against Matty Cash and Douglas Luiz.

Benrahma passed out to Antonio who clipped a fine pass over for Lingard to control with his first touch before scoring with his second. “We got done on the counterattack,” the Villa manager bemoaned. “Sunday League football, you wouldn’t do that.”

Watkins pulled a goal back with a fine sliding shot from Grealish’s pass nine minutes from time but Lingard promptly clinched the victory after another fine assist from Antonio.

“Three points is the most important thing,” Lingard said. “The team worked hard as a collective and we think about the next one against Fulham. “I started tonight, scored two goals and got three points. I was smiling before the game and during. I just enjoy playing football. It has been a long time.”

Moyes was in an almost jovial mood and his team could be fourth before Liverpool face Manchester City on Sunday. “Did you say top four there?” he asked rhetorically. “We’re in a really good position but we’ll keep knocking on the door and see where it takes us.”

Dail Mail: MATCH FACTS
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez 6; Cash 6, Konsa 6, Mings 7, Targett 6.5; Douglas Luiz 5.5 (Sanson 79), McGinn 6; El Ghazi 5.5 (Traore 45 6), Barkley 6 (Trezeguet 69), Grealish 8; Watkins 7.
Subs not used: Heaton (gk), Nakamba, Engels, Sanson, El Mohamedy, Davis, Ramsey.
Scorer: Watkins (81)
Booked: Luiz
West Ham United (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 6; Coufal 6.5, Dawson 6.5, Ogbonna 6, Cresswell 6; Soucek 7.5, Rice 6.5; Fredericks 6 (Fornals 84), Benrahma 6.5 (Johnson 88), Lingard 8 (Bowen 90+1); Antonio 7.5.
Subs not used: Balbuena, Yarmolenko, Lanzini, Diop, Martin (gk), Odubeko.
Scorers: Soucek (51), Lingard (56, 83)
Booked: Cresswell
Referee: A Madley 7
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