West Ham supporters were among the most excited ones when it comes to the start of the Premier League. The Hammers changed the coach and brought in eight new quality players so high expectations were in place. Behind them were Aston Villa fans, who just finished a great season and will play in the Champions League. Both teams had a difficult opening day – to play against each other in London, but Unai Emery’s men came victorious against another Basque coach (Julen Lopetegui) in a game which was decided by a goal from a potential West Ham target. Jhon Duran was on the verge on the move to London, but Aston Villa’s demands were to high. He stayed, came in as a sub tonight and scored a winner: West Ham – Aston Villa 1-2.Even with all these changes, the Hammers couldn’t shake off the ’curse’ of bad Premier League starts. West Ham have won their opening Premier League match in just one of the last eight seasons. Indeed, the Hammers have lost their opening game in the Premier League more often than any other side (15). West Ham have lost on five of the six occasions they’ve begun a Premier League campaign against a side who finished in the previous season’s top four. And tonight they did it again. Signings Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Jean-Clair Todibo, Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug remained on the bench and some of them came in when the score was already 2-1, but failed to make their mark.The visitors can be pleased with today’s performance, although they were anxious about securing the victory in the final moments of the match. Ings had a good header in the 87th minute, and then Souček had a massive chance in the seventh minute of added time. In the first situation, Dibu Martinez stood out with a brilliant save, while in the second, Souček embarrassed himself by shooting over the goal after outjumping Kosta Nedeljković and reaching the ball after it deflected off Ezri Konsa. He should have done better, but since he didn’t, all three points go to Aston Villa.MORE TO FOLLOWENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 1FridayMan.Utd. – Fulham 1-0 (0-0)/Zirkzee 87/SaturdayIpswich – Liverpool 0-2 (0-0)/Jota 60, Salah 65/Arsenal – Wolverhampton 2-0 (1-0)/Havertz 25 Saka 74 /Everton – Brighton 0-3 (0-1)/Mitoma 25, Welbeck 56, Adingra 86/Newcastle – Southampton 1-0 (1-0)/Joelington 45/Nott.Forest – Bournemouth 1-1 (1-0)/Wood 23 – Semenyo 86/West Ham – Aston Villa 1-2 (1-1)/Paqueta 37(p) – Onana 3, Duran 79/Sunday16:00: (2.55) Brentford (3.35) Crystal Palace (2.75)18:30: (4.20) Chelsea (3.80) Man.City (1.90)Monday22:00: (5.20) Leicester (4.00) Tottenham (1.65)***odds are subject to change***
