Aston Villa secured a 2-0 victory over West Ham United in the Premier League, completing a league double over the Hammers for the first time since the 2010/11 season and boosting their push for UEFA Champions League qualification.

West Ham were dealt an early setback when Jean-Clair Todibo was forced to withdraw during the warm-up, and they were soon under pressure as Mads Hermansen reacted quickly to push Lucas Digne’s effort wide, before Konstantinos Mavropanos cleared the resulting corner to prevent further danger.

Villa Park erupted in the 15th minute when Matty Cash played a short free-kick to Jadon Sancho, who delivered a precise pass for John McGinn to calmly finish first time from the edge of the box.

Shortly after the opener, Taty Castellanos and Amadou Onana both headed wide at either end, before Ollie Watkins fired off target and then set up Morgan Rogers, whose effort was well saved by Hermansen.

Rogers continued to threaten, seeing another attempt blocked by Aaron Wan-Bissaka as Villa carved through the West Ham defence with ease, before he was denied in spectacular fashion by a goal-line clearance from Mavropanos.

The Greek defender was again in the right place to deflect a Watkins effort wide, and Ezri Konsa later headed over just before the break.

Nuno Espírito Santo made a double substitution before the restart, but Villa continued to push forward, with Mads Hermansen forced into action to tip a powerful Ross Barkley strike over the bar, before Matty Cash narrowly missed from distance moments later.

West Ham gradually began to create chances of their own as the half wore on, though Matheus Fernandes was denied by Lucas Digne, Emiliano Martínez comfortably gathered Axel Disasi’s header, and Ezri Konsa got across to block Jarrod Bowen’s effort.

Pablo then fired over from a promising position, and that miss was punished shortly after as Hermansen could only parry Morgan Rogers’ shot into the path of Ollie Watkins, who made no mistake in finishing the rebound.

Tammy Abraham’s late speculative effort drifted wide, but by then the damage had already been done, as Villa ended their four-match winless run in the Premier League. The result allowed them to capitalise on dropped points elsewhere, moving them within a point of third-placed Manchester United and five clear of Liverpool.

In contrast, West Ham were left to reflect on a narrow defeat, remaining just one point behind Tottenham after suffering only their second loss in nine matches across all competitions.