RICE FULL OF BEANS
Declan & Co destroy Villa after Konsa red
ASTON VILLA fans endured a horror show as in-form West Ham romped to victory.
David Moyes’ fourth-placed side moved level on points with Manchester City as skipper Declan Rice provided the tricks and treats.
Villa were booed off after their fourth successive defeat and can have no complaints about the result, but referee Chris Kavanagh certainly did them no favours.
He sent off Ezri Konsa early in the second half but then appeared to treat a couple of West Ham players quite leniently when the game flared up near the end.
Pablo Fornals was only booked for a hefty challenge on Marvelous Nakamba and, as angry players squared up, John Mcginn was forcibly shoved to the floor by Jarrod Bowen.
Villa fought on at 2-1 down and a man down but eventually succumbed to late goals from Fornals and Bowen.
All the Villa Park pre-match buzz concerned £23m summer signing Leon Bailey, as the pace ace got his first start.
He is a close pal of Olympic legend Usain Bolt, but when it came to being quick out of the blocks West Ham had the aptly named Ben Johnson to call on.
The academy product shot the Hammers ahead on seven minutes with a low shot from just outside the box after an incisive run and lay-off from Rice.
Villa were struggling and might have gone two down but for Matty Cash getting his head in the way of a Bowen stinger.
West Ham were relatively untroubled at the back and when they first found themselves in a spot of bother it was of their own making.
Angelo Ogbonna sold Lukasz Fabianski short, leaving the keeper having to hack it out for a corner.
Then in the 35th minute Emiliano Buendia got past Fornals and squared for Ollie Watkins to put Villa level.
But West Ham were soon back in front when Rice took things into his own hands by demanding the ball off Said Benrahma. Villa were slow to react, Benrahma did what was asked of him and Rice did the rest as he hit a low shot in off the post beyond keeper Emi Martinez – who was clearly indicating that his view had been blocked.
Things got worse for Villa five minutes into the second half when the VAR sent Kavanagh to the monitor – and he changed his initial decision and ended up showing Konsa a red card for denying Bowen a goalscoring opportunity with a clumsy challenge.
Ten-man Villa rallied and Watkins could hardly believe it when Fabianski fingertipped his powerful header on to the bar to deny him another equaliser.
Two goals in the last 10 minutes rubbed even more salt into Villa’s wounds.
First Fornals cashed in after Bowen’s shot had been saved. Then Bowen banged the final nail in Villa’s coffin with an angled shot at the far post.