Andriy Yarmolenko’s superb flick and finish set West Ham United on our way to a 2-1 win over Aston Villa on an emotional afternoon at London Stadium.
The forward, making his first appearance in Claret and Blue since being granted compassionate leave in the midst of the crisis engulfing his home country of Ukraine, came on as a second-half substitute in place of Michail Antonio, and opened the scoring 18 minutes later with a clever strike on the turn.
Pablo Fornals netted West Ham’s second on 82 minutes on the counter-attack, turning home Saïd Benrahma’s pull-back, with a finish which Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez could not keep out.
Jacob Ramsey would pull one back for the away side as the match ticked into added time, but the afternoon belonged to Yarmolenko, who received a standing ovation upon his introduction to the action and was visibly moved at the rapturous reaction to his vitally important goal, which set the Hammers on our way to a hard-fought win.
