A Pablo Fornals goal was enough for West Ham to secure victory at Aston Villa and collect their first points of the season.

It lifted the East London side off the bottom of the table, and provides some relief after a tricky start to the 2022-23 campaign.

Steven Gerrard’s Villa side enjoyed more possession, but there were few clear chances for either team in a dull first half.

Ezri Konsa thought he’d scored from a Lucas Digne corner, but the cross had swung out of play on its way into the box.

Jarrod Bowen found himself in on goal for a chance in the secon half, but the threat was eventually tamed by a combination of Digne and Matty Cash.

David Moyes handed a first Premier League start to Gianluca Scamacca but the Italian could not open his goalscoring account and was replaced by Michail Antonio in the second half.

With the scores still at 0-0, Formals picked up the ball on the edge of the area and saw his shot hit a Villa defender and loop over keeper Emiliano Martinez for the Hammers' first goal of the campaign.

Boss Moyes said: "It's a great three points.

"The Premier League is tough at the moment. There's very little between the teams, games are really tight and that's the way it was today.

"We scored with a deflection but we were much better in the second which helped. Any win away from home is a really good result. 

"We changed the formation which helped. Formations help but it's the players' attitude. They know we've been doing really well over the last couple of years and we want to continue that."

Did you know?

Aston Villa have lost at least three of their first four Premier League games to a season for a fifth time, doing so previously in 1997-98, 2002-03, 2013-14 and 2019-20. 

The Villans have now won just one of their last eight league games (D2 L5).

West Ham have recorded their first win and first goal of the Premier League this season, ending a run of four successive defeats in the process. Each of their last two wins in the competition have come on the road.

Villa have now failed to win any of their last nine Premier League games against the Hammers (D3 L6). Only against Manchester City do they currently have a longer ongoing winless streak against a side in the competition (11 games).

West Ham are the ninth side in Premier League history to play 1,000 games in the competition, while they are the sixth to record a victory on that milestone, and the first since Aston Villa against Chelsea in May 2021.

West Ham manager David Moyes has now recorded five successive wins against Villa in the Premier League, the first time he has won as many games in a row against a side in the competition.

West Ham’s Pablo Fornals has scored three league goals against Aston Villa, his joint-most against an opponent in the competition (also three against Leicester City and Liverpool). Indeed, today’s was his first goal in the competition since netting against the Villans in March.

West Ham’s Declan Rice has assisted three Premier League goals against Aston Villa, more than against any other side. Each of his last four assists in the competition have come away from home, including another at Villa Park in October 2021.