PLAYER RATINGS: Aston Villa Win Claret & Blue Derby Thanks to Jhon Duran
Two teams. Two colours. The claret and blue derby.
Aston Villa travel to London to prove they wear the colours better. Did they prove it? They did. Jhon Duran sent the Hammers packing. Wasn’t he meant to join them? Anyways…
Let’s get into the ratings, then.
Player Ratings
West Ham
Alphonse Areola (5): Was fairly inactive for most of the game and was left standing still for Villa’s opener. Conceded again in the 79th. Rough day at the office.
Vladimir Coufal (4): There is a reason West Ham have signed Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Max Kilman (6): Didn’t understand the price tag initially, but I sort of do now. A solid debut for Kilman.
Konstantinos Mavropanos (6): Ferocious in those duels. Didn’t miss a single tackle. I know he’s Greek but his name is VERY Greek isn’t it?
Emerson Palmieri (5): Struggled defensively against the Villa wingers but also looked like a threat going forward. Mixed bag.
Tomas Soucek (7): Battle heroically in midfield. Broke up play quite a few times. Missed from two yards out, though.
Guido Rodríguez (6): Seemed to be struggling with the pace of the Premier League in the first half. Looked better in the second.
Lucas Paqueta (6): Picked up a first-half yellow for a silly foul. We aren’t insinuating anything here. You are. Those betting sponsors at the London Stadium are interesting. Oh right, back to the ratings. Scored from the spot but was largely second-best at most times in the middle.
Jarrod Bowen (6): Not the best day for Danny Dyer’s son-in-law, who didn’t really cause many problems.
Mohammed Kudus (7.5): Not as much of a goal threat in the first half as West Ham fans would have liked; he turned it around in the second and he looks sharp and caused Matty Cash a headache today. Hit a rabona cross at some point. Silky.
Michail Antonio (5): If Michail Antonio was as good as he says he is on his podcast, he’d be a problem for defenders. Luckily for Villa, he isn’t. He seemed to kill any chance of an attack when he picked up the ball.
Subs
Niclas Fullkrug (6): Was a bit more of a nuisance than Antonio. Gave him a match rating equal to his number of touches.
Crysencio Summerville (6): Probably should be renamed to Springville. The performance was neither hot nor cold; it was lukewarm.
James Ward-Prowse (6): Never got to shoot from a free kick. Waste of a sub at that point.
Jean-Clair Todibo (N/A): Award for most French first name of all time goes to…
Danny Ings (N/A): Danny Ings in 2024…
Aston Villa
Emiliano Martinez (7): Odds are never in the favour of the goalkeeper for penalties, so I won’t bring him down for it. There were some really excellent saves throughout the match.
Matty Cash (5.5): Gave away a silly penalty. You could argue that it wasn’t a penalty. VAR disagree. But who ever agrees with VAR anyway? Had trouble against Kudus throughout the match.
Ezri Konsa (7.5): Kept Antonio quiet, then kept Fullkrug quiet. Never felt the West Ham attackers had him bet.
Pau Torres (7.5): What a player, by the way. Top-class performance all around. He won all of his tackles and duels. POW! Sorry, I meant PAU!
Lucas Digne (7): Ian Maatsen may have a hard time breaking into the team. Solid performance from the Frenchman.
Amadou Onana (8): Scored the easiest header he will ever have. Michail Antonio gave him the equivalent of a six-bedroom house worth of space. Other than that, he competed in his duels quite well and moved the ball with ease. Fantastic signing by the looks of things.
Youri Tielemans (7): Great delivery for the Onana header. Absolute general in the midfield today.
Morgan Rogers (7): A talented player who was keen on running on those open spaces down the middle for Aston Villa. This man will be deadly on the transition.
John McGinn (6): Ran around, made some tackles, just classic John McGinn stuff.
Leon Bailey (6.5): Seemed like Villa’s biggest goal threat in the first half. Even more so at the start of the second.
Ollie Watkins (5): Seemed to be off the pace quite a bit. Never got into the game. Emery probably agrees, which is why he was subbed off after an hour.
Subs
Jhon Duran (8): Immediately offered more than Watkins when coming on. He was heavily linked to West Ham, and it was very funny when he scored. At first, he didn’t look like he wanted to celebrate but he then told the Villa fans he was staying. Or maybe he said London Stadium is where he wants to be. I don’t know at this point.
Jacob Ramsey (7): Some really nice stuff on the ball from Ramsey, and he did well to get himself an assist.
Ian Maatsen (7): Maybe Digne does have something to worry about. Excellent deft pass into Ramsey to set up Duran’s goal. He was really impressive going forward. Forget what I said earlier about Maatsen struggling to get into the team.
Jaden Philogene (6): Yellow carded in the 90th.
Kosta Nedeljković (N/A): I am not trying to pronounce his name, you can.
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