BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — West Ham consolidated fourth place in the Premier League with a 4-1 win over 10-man Aston Villa on Sunday.
The visitors were aided by Ezri Konsa’s sending off in the 50th minute with the score at 2-1. The Villa defender was initially shown a yellow card for tripping Jarrod Bowen on the edge of the penalty area, but it was changed to red after a VAR review for denying a clear goal chance.
Bowen wasn’t to be denied for long as he sealed the win in the 84th with a shot from the left side of the penalty box.
The under-fire Villa coach, Dean Smith, gave Jamaica forward Leon Bailey his first Premier League start, while counterpart David Moyes began with the same players that started last weekend’s win over Tottenham.
Moyes’ team began with confidence and opened the scoring in the seventh, when Declan Rice passed out to the right for Ben Johnson, who cut back inside and curled a low shot into the far corner of the net with his left boot.
Ollie Watkins equalized in the 34th, but that was as good as it got for the home side and its increasingly unhappy fans.
Rice restored the visitors’ lead four minutes later with a 25-meter (yard) shot that bobbled in via the post.
Pablo Fornals tapped in a rebound for 3-1 in the 80th and Bowen sealed it four minutes later to ensure Villa slumped to its fourth straight league defeat.
West Ham is level on 20 points with third-place Manchester City. Villa is 15th with 10 points from 10 games.
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