A second-half brace in the West Ham vs Aston Villa game from the ever-brilliant Morgan Rogers saw the visitors record their sixth successive Premier League victory and keep within touching distance of leaders Arsenal and second-placed Manchester City in the early-season title race.
The Villans have completely flipped their season around after a stuttering start, and now they are well and truly in the Premier League title race debate as we head into the festive period.
West Ham vs Aston Villa 2-3: Morgan Rogers Shines Again As Aston Villa Stake Another Claim In Premier League Title Race
In a poor first half by Aston Villa’s standards, a Morgan Rogers brace after the interval dragged the Villans to victory, their sixth win in a row to lift them only three points away from league leaders Arsenal.
West Ham’s Mateus Fernandes scored inside the first 30 seconds of the game to claim the Premier League fastest goal of the season, a record that Hugo Ekitike had for only 23 hours after he scored in 46 seconds to open the scoring for Liverpool against Brighton & Hove Albion.
However, an own goal from Konstantinos Mavropanos saw the game back all square after an action-packed 10 minutes.
The hosts were back in front just before the half-hour mark as Hammers skipper Jarrod Bowen fired West Ham into a 2-1 lead, an advantage they held onto heading into the half-time interval.
With Aston Villa’s five-game winning streak at stake, up stepped 23-year-old Morgan Rogers, who has been a key cog for Unai Emery’s side this season from the left flank.
The tricky winger equalised in the 50th minute after Youri Tielemens’ cross found him in the box and he was able to take a touch and fire the ball into the net past Alphonse Areola.
With 10 minutes of the West Ham vs Aston Villa contest to go, Rogers set his sights on a brace as he let fly from outside the box and saw his shot arrow into the top corner as Aston Villa completed the turnaround and earned an important three points on the road and making it six wins from six in the Premier League.
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Aston Villa Showing No Signs Of Slowing Down
Unai Emery’s side have been on a real mission up the Premier League table in recent months after starting the season with three draws and two losses, and also bowing out of the Carabao Cup.
From that point, Villa have gone on to conquer the Europa League competition, losing only to Go Ahead Eagles, and have only lost once in the Premier League, to Liverpool, while beating title contenders Arsenal and Manchester City along the way.
With a tough victory in the West Ham vs Aston Villa game, the Villans have extended their unbeaten run to six games, whilst their Premier League title race opponents have had their moments and have dropped some points, keeping the battle at the top ever so tight.
Whilst Arsenal and City have relatively easier games in Gameweek 17, facing Everton and West Ham respectively, with the Villans facing Manchester United, Emery’s side have shown real title contender qualities with their wins and never-say-die mentality in recent weeks.
Villa have real quality in all parts of the pitch with a well-drilled defence headed by the ever-present Ezri Konsa, a quality midfield with the talented Youri Tielemans at the heart of everything good, brilliant wide men with Rogers and John McGinn always influencing play from the flank and fantastic strikers with either Ollie Watkins or Donyell Malen leading the team from the front.
With the festive period upcoming and games coming thick and fast, Villa certainly look like a team that can challenge at the top, but with injuries and fatigue to compete with, Emery will need to balance his side to still get the results but also to keep all of his best players fit and firing over such a congested period.
Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / NurPhoto
Recording Date: 14.12.2025
