Premier League: Duran, Onana fire Villa to winning start against West Ham
Aston Villa got their Premier League campaign off to a winning start with a hard-fought 2-1 victory against West Ham United – the club’s first result at London Stadium.
After Leicester City were held by Aston Villa to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the League Cup semifinal on Wednesday, Foxes manager Brendan Rodgers felt that his boys played well and deserved to win the match.
“I thought we played well,” Rodgers told LCFC TV. “In the first half, we were too slow both in attack and when we pressed the game. We were too passive.”
The Foxes started the game with sheer dominance but they were Villa, who drew the first blood of the match. Anwar El Ghazi delivered into Frederic Guilbert, who converted from close range to put Villa in the driving seat in the 28th minute.
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“They didn’t have too many opportunities. The one that they scored, we’re disappointed with. We should defend that much better,” said Rodgers.
“I thought, (in the) first half, even though we had a couple of chances, we weren’t aggressive enough both with the ball and without the ball,” he added.
After many attempts from City, the Villa shot stopper was finally beaten with 16 minutes of normal time remaining.
“In the second half, we were really dominant. The keeper (Orjan Nyland) has made some great saves, they’ve got some great blocks in, Aston Villa, so you have to give them credit,” said the manager, adding, “Overall, we deserved to win the game, but didn’t and like I say, we showed great mentality to come back after going behind.”
Leicester meet Villa next for the second leg of the semifinal at Villa Park on January 28.
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