Losing a game heading for a goalless draw is nothing like a positive sign. Losing against West Ham in such a fashion was a desperately bad look for Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa. A dire first half had suggested a stalemate set in stone, only for Pablo Fornals, via the heel of Ezri Konsa, to end West Ham’s scoring drought.
In climbing off the bottom of the table to 16th, behind Villa on goals scored, West Ham avoided becoming only the second team in Premier League history to lose their first four matches without scoring a goal. The previous team, Crystal Palace in 2017, removed their manager Frank de Boer immediately afterwards. David Moyes will be suffering no such fate.
