Douglas Luiz justifies the “hype” to Dwight Yorke by stealing his record in Aston Villa 4-1 West Ham
Douglas Luiz etched his name into the Premier League history books after netting twice in Aston Villa’s 4-1 win over West Ham this afternoon.
Villa’s number six put his side ahead on the half-hour mark when he collected an Ollie Watkins pass before striking from range. Alphonse Areola in the Hammers’ goal managed to get fingertips but couldn’t keep it out.
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“They deserve it. There’s no doubt they’ve been the better team. They’ve caused problems for West Ham between the lines,” came Jamie Carrgaher’s response on Sky Sports commentary.
The effort was a landmark moment as Luiz has now scored in six consecutive Premier League home games — against Tottenham, Brighton (twice), Everton, Crystal Palace and West Ham — something no Villa player achieved before. In fact, the last such longer scoring run at Villa’s home came in 1991 and was produced by Dwight Yorke who put together eight in a row.
Yorke, who previously managed to score across five successive Villa Park appearances in 1996, made headlines earlier this year when he questioned Luiz’s role in Unai Emery’s team.
✅ Spurs
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✅ West HamSIX in a row at Villa Park for @DGOficial! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/Go97oDTu2T
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) October 22, 2023
“Douglas Luiz is a player I have watched closely at Aston Villa and I’m not quite sure what his strengths are,” he said. “What does he actually do? He’s very steady in midfield but I don’t understand the hype from the summer when Arsenal nearly signed him. Luiz is not creative enough to sit in the midfield. He plays a crucial role at Villa, but you have to do more to warrant a big move. I don’t think he’s a top-four player, but he’s acceptable for Villa.”
Villa and their supporters would love to keep hold of Luiz for many years. The native of Rio de Janeiro doubled their lead from twelve yards — after Edson Alvarez brought down Ezri Konsa — it was his third successful penalty in England’s top division this season as many as Mohamed Salah.
Speaking of whom, Jarrod Bowen immediately pulled one back for the visitors, he’s now scored in all five of West Ham’s away Premier League games this season (five goals); the only other players to score in each of their first five away appearances from the start of a season in the competition are Thierry Henry for Arsenal in 2001/02 and Salah for Liverpool in 2021/22.
It was a small window of hope which Watkins shut with 15 minutes remaining of the contest and later boarded up by substitute Leon Bailey minutes from the end. The former has now scored and assisted in two Premier League games this season, becoming the first player to be this productive in 2023/24.
