Slowly but surely, Graham Potter is getting his ideas into the West Ham team. Former Chelsea and Brighton coach took over against Aston Villa in the FA Cup on January 10th and lost 2-1, before winning his first game against Fulham (3-2). Crystal Palace surprised the Hammers with an away win and in the rematch with Villa today, Potter finally managed to aviod a defeat: Aston Villa – West Ham 1-1. Prior to this match, Potter has lost eight games against Aston Villa, and he was in danger of equalling his losing record with Man City (nine loses). His final game in charge of Chelsea was a 2-0 Premier League defeat at Villa in April 2023. And his first game in charge of West Ham was a 2-1 FA Cup third round defeat at Villa Park just 16 days ago. But his players did well and could even win in Birmingham tonigtht.GOAL | Aston Villa 1-1 West Ham | Emerson EMERSON HAS EQUALIZED FOR WEST HAM!pic.twitter.com/029dcI2bJO— SPORTSXTRA (@RayKaiUpdates) January 26, 2025 Both teams played a boring first half. The guests showed nothing and failed even to take a shot on target, while the home team managed to score a quick goal, but that was it. It was night minute when Watkins assisted to Ramsey, who took a touch away from Coufal before finding the far corner for the lead. This was Watkins 100th goal involement in the Premier League as he became the fastest player to 100 goal involvements since Kevin De Bruyne. The only other excitement was a bad one, as Villa‘s Tyrone Mings got injured again. The defender just turnet to action from a serious knee injury at the end of October after over 400 days out of action and he injured the knee again and had to come out in tears.Goal Aston Villa [1] – 0 West Ham UnitedJacob Ramsey pic.twitter.com/xiyjLJV5tk— Goals433⚽ (@Goals433) January 26, 2025 Coach Graham Potter obviously said something to his players in the dressing room as West Ham took complete control at the start of the second half and created one good chance. Paqueta found himself inside the box in the 53rd minute but instead of hitting the bottom corner, the ball went wide. Aston Villa did nothing to prevent the Hammers‘ moment and the punishment came in the 69th minute, when Alvarez sent a perfect ball in the penalty area when Emerson headed the ball to the net without any problem. Many believed that Villa will wake up after an equalizer, but the guests just kept playing. Danny Ings nearly scored against his ex-club in the 81st minute, but his shot went just near the bar. Paqueta even managed a 97th minute stunner, but the goal was nullified due to offside.PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 23Saturday Bournemouth – Nott.Forest 5-0 (1-0)/Kluivert 9, Outtara 55,61,87, Semenyo 90+1/Brighton – Everton 0-1 (0-1)/Ndiaye 42 pen/Liverpool – Ipswich 4-1 (3-0)/Szoboszlai 11, Salah 35, Gakpo 44, 66 – Greaves 90/Southampton – Newcastle 1-3 (1-2)/Bednarek 10 – Isak 26 pen, 30, Tonali 51/Wolverhampton – Arsenal 0-1 (0-0)/Calafiori 74/Manchester City – Chelsea 3-1 (1-1)/Gvardiol 42, Haaland 68, Foden 87 – Madueke 3/Sunday Crystal Palace – Brentford 1-2 (0-0)/Esse 85 – Mbeumo 66 pen, Schade 80/Tottenham – Leicester City 1-2 (1-0)/Richarlison 33 – Vardy 46, Khannouss 49/Aston Villa – West Ham 1-1 (1-0)/Ramsey 9 – Emerson 70/22.00: (2.45) Fulham (3.50) Man.Utd. (3.05)***odds are subject to change***
