While Ollie Watkins gave the most articulate response to his omission from the England squad with the second-half goal that consolidated Aston Villa’s place in the Premier League’s top four, the most rousing noise around Villa Park arrived when Youri Tielemans replaced John McGinn a minute earlier.
Most of the stadium took to their feet and cheered the Belgian’s name more loudly than anyone else’s as he made his return after two months out with an ankle injury. On a day when McGinn, Villa’s inspirational captain, followed up his goal in Thursday’s Europa League victory over Lille with another nerve-settling strike here, the returning strength and quality of Unai Emery’s squad suggests they can maintain their two-pronged approach for Champions League qualification.
Villa do not play again until 9 April, when they visit Bologna in the first leg of their third successive European quarter-final, and their fans can bask in a satisfying glow until then, and quite possibly beyond.
Emery’s side, ending their run of three consecutive league defeats, are five points clear of fifth-placed Liverpool and were good value for this return to their previously imperious home form. West Ham’s hopes of staying up were dented, not only by this damp squib of a performance but by Nottingham Forest’s victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
