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morgan rogers made a brace to keep Aston Villa firmly Premier League Title chase with 3-2 comeback win West Ham,
Villa fell behind twice, through a goal from Mateus Fernandes after just 29 seconds and a poacher’s strike from Jarrod Bowen.
but a Konstantinos Mavropanos An own goal canceled out the opener and Rodgers drew Villa level at 2–2, before the England midfielder finished brilliantly with a superb 25-yarder.
10th win in 11 matches, Villa’s best performance in over a centuryThat leaves them three points behind leaders Arsenal, while West Ham remain stuck in the relegation zone.
Before kick-off, the hosts paid emotional tribute to their former captain, manager and Record-appearance holder Billy Bonds, who died two weeks earlier.
Ex-Hammers teammates including Sir Trevor Brooking and Alvin Martin were on the pitch, while in front of the stand named after Bonds, hung a photograph of him lifting the FA Cup.
It was a fitting match, bringing back memories of the First Division match at Upton Park in April 1983, when Bonds was fouled by Peter Withey and leapt forward to tackle the uncompromising Villa striker.
But upon seeing referee Clive Thomas arriving, Bonds defused the situation by holding Withey’s hand and moving to dance with her, rather than reprimanding him.
Both avoided bookings and Bonds had the last laugh when his goal gave West Ham a 2–0 win.
Sadly for the hosts, this time Villa snatched the points despite a dream start from the Hammers.
Ezri Konsa played the ball near the byline and was robbed by Fernandes, who fired an angled shot past stand-in Villa goalkeeper Marco Bizot and into the roof of the net.
It was the fastest goal of the Premier League season so far, surpassing Hugo Ekitié’s opener for Liverpool 24 hours earlier.
However, Villa found themselves equal after nine minutes when Mavropanos challenged Ollie Watkins. John McGinn‘s cross, inadvertently walked into its own trap.
West Ham regained the lead in the 24th minute when Bowen – who was played onside by Konsa – got a foot forward to divert Freddy Potts’ shot.
Villa accidentally equalized again five minutes after half-time lucas paquetaJoe was actually having one of his more impressive games.
However, when the Brazil international unnecessarily gave the ball away inside his own half, Youri Tielemans stepped forward and crossed for Rodgers, who had time to get a touch, turn and slam the ball into the net before the West Ham player got past it.
Bowen had the ball in the net again, but it was ruled out due to a tight offside. With 11 minutes remaining, Rodgers fired a curling, dipping effort into the top corner to stun West Ham.
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