Midfielder Edson Álvarez was delighted with his side’s attitude and application after his second-half assist helped West Ham United come from behind to draw 1-1 away at Aston Villa in the Premier League.
The Hammers found themselves a goal down just eight minutes into the Sky Sports Super Sunday clash at Villa Park, only 16 days after they were defeated by the same opposition at the same venue in the Emirates FA Cup third round.
But, after a disappointing first half, Graham Potter’s injury-ridden side this time rallied in the second, and Álvarez’s brilliant, curling cross to the back post, after good link-up play by Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Mohammed Kudus, was nodded home by Emerson to seal a deserved share of the spoils.
In truth, West Ham looked like the team most likely to snatch the win late on, with the lively Lucas Paquetá going close with an overhead-kick chance before his goal at the death was disallowed for offside against Tomáš Souček, and Álvarez insisted that the performance and result signalled a step in the right direction.
The 27-year-old, who was replaced by Andy Irving in the 89th minute of his 22nd appearance of the season, said: “It’s a pleasing afternoon. We know it’s very difficult to pick up points here, and I think we could’ve scored a couple more goals.
“We knew coming here that it is always very intense playing away at Aston Villa, so we tried to control the game and gradually get more of the ball. In the second half, I think we did very well.
“As I mentioned, I think we should have scored one or two more. But, this is football, and we’ll take the point and try to build on this going forward.”
Álvarez’s assist was his first of the season for the Irons, and he was delighted to play his part in securing a draw that leaves the Hammers 14th in the table at the time of writing, level on points with 12th-place Crystal Palace.
Potter has now overseen a win, a defeat and a draw in his three league matches in charge, and our No19 is buoyed by the impact the new Head Coach has made at the Club so far.
“I just picked up the ball, and I knew that it was a position where we could out-do them,” Álvarez added. “I’m happy with what happened in the end, with Emerson scoring the goal.
“It was important for us to react today, because it was disappointing to lose against Crystal Palace last time out at home, where we always want to take the three points. We have done that today, so it’s a step in the right direction.
“To be honest he (Potter) has surprised me, and the ideas he’s introduced have been very clear. In my opinion this is just the beginning, because he has so many more ideas, but we want to keep going step-by-step.”
