Sunday afternoon’s match between Aston Villa and West Ham saw five goals scored, but unfortunately for the hosts, four of them were scored by the Hammers.
Ben Johnson had drilled the visitors ahead before Ollie Watkins grabbed what turned out to be the Villain’s only goal.
Within a few minutes Declan Rice had restored the east Londoners lead, and in the last 10 minutes, Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen put the gloss on another fine performance from David Moyes’ side.
Now comfortable in fourth and on the same points as Manchester City, West Ham are flying, but the same can’t be said for Villa.
Nevertheless, one player from the Midlands-based outfit still had something to celebrate.
36 – Emi Buendía has assisted 36 goals in English league football since signing for Norwich prior to the 2018-19 campaign, the most of any player in this time:
36 – Emi Buendía
35 – Trent Alexander-Arnold
34 – Kevin De Bruyne
33 – Nicky Adams
32 – Saïd BenrahmaVisionary.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 31, 2021
Watkins’ goal was made possible by the actions of Emi Buendia, who provided yet another assist. Indeed, his 36th in English football is the most of any player since 2018/19.
Such consistent excellence should ultimately help Villa pull themselves out of their current downward spiral.