​David Moyes said Jesse Lingard has the potential to make England's European Championship squad after he scored twice on his West Ham debut as they cruised past Aston Villa.

Manchester United loanee Lingard - making his first Premier League start in 13 months - netted West Ham’s second with a thunderous effort after 56 minutes.

And the 28-year-old doubled his tally in the closing stages after Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez failed to hold on to his strike.

“It is great when you bring someone in and they do well,” West Ham boss Moyes told BBC Sport.

“If he keeps up the form he showed tonight, and he is not completely match fit, scoring the goals, he will not be far way from Gareth Southgate’s England squad in the summer.”

Midfielder Tomas Soucek had put the visitors in front at Villa Park, finishing off Said Benrahma’s pass in the 51st minute.

Ollie Watkins gave Villa a glimmer of hope, making it 2-1 with nine minutes remaining, before Lingard’s second wrapped up the points for the Hammers.

West Ham remain fifth, two points behind fourth-placed Liverpool who lost 1-0 at home to Brighton, while Villa stay ninth, six points behind the Hammers.

Coming into this fixture, Lingard hadn't played a Premier League match since the final day of last season, and had only made three cup appearances for his parent club this campaign.

But Moyes put the midfielder into his starting line-up, and the England international showed his creativity from the off. No West Ham player had more shots or touches in the final third in the opening period.

“We didn’t feel like we did enough in our 3-1 loss to Liverpool at the weekend but we did today,” added Moyes.

“Jesse helped us with that. We had to play well because of Villa’s quality.

“He will help us no end before the summer. All round a really great performance.”

Lingard, Michail Antonio and Aaron Cresswell all forced fine saves from Villa keeper Martinez in a first half dominated by the away side.

West Ham’s new number 11 fully deserved his first goal, striking the ball through the fingertips of Martinez moments after Soucek had broken the deadlock.

Villa defender Tyrone Mings completed an excellent goalline clearance to deny Antonio shortly after the hour mark.

And Lingard rounded off his superb debut, latching on to Antonio’s pass to restore his side’s two-goal advantage two minutes after the hosts had pulled a goal back.

“I started tonight, scored two goals and got three points. I was smiling before the game and during, I just enjoy playing football,” Lingard told BT Sport.

“It has been a long time, I have come here to get game time and scored two goals but like I said, three points is the most important.”

Villa ponder what might have been

Three points would have taken Villa above West Ham into sixth place, and on another day Dean Smith’s side could have been celebrating their 11th league win of the season.

Forward Watkins struck the outside of the post with a curling effort after 26 minutes, with midfielder Ross Barkley dragging a shot wide when unmarked in the penalty area moments later.

But after falling behind, Villa seemed to lose their spark, with West Ham right-back Vladimir Coufal able to get the better of playmaker Jack Grealish for much of the game.

Grealish did manage to wriggle free and play a pinpoint pass to Watkins who struck the ball beyond Lukasz Fabianski to make it 2-1 in the 81st minute.

But poor defending allowed West Ham to grab a third and condemn Villa to a fifth defeat in seven games in all competitions.

‘We didn’t meet our standards’

*Aston Villa boss Dean Smith told BT Sport:*

”We bounced back after the Burnley defeat and have to do that now again.

“We are in a better place than last season and only two or three games where I came out and I was disappointed and this is one of them.

“We have set the standards after 19 games, you want to keep that going. Unfortunately tonight we didn’t.”
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*The Guardian*
*Wednesday, 3 February 2021*

​Jesse Lingard rewarded David Moyes’s faith in rescuing him from his Manchester United doldrums with two debut goals in the win that means West Ham have achieved their highest top-flight points tally after 22 games since 1985-86.

​As West Ham moved on to 38 points, only two behind fourth-placed Liverpool, Lingard, having signed on loan on Monday, provided signs of the spark that marked out his early-career promise in front of the watching England manager Gareth Southgate.

Lingard had not started a Premier League game for 13 months, and not appeared for his country since June 2019, but both goals were dispatched with a confidence to match his sprightly movement. West Ham have now won seven times in eight games in all competitions as they responded perfectly to Sunday’s 3-1 defeat by Liverpool.

Tomas Soucek had given West Ham the lead just after half-time before Lingard’s first goal arrived within five minutes. Villa hit back when Ollie Watkins gathered Jack Grealish’s pass to make it 2-1, but Lingard sealed the victory seven minutes from time to prompt his manager to suggest an international recall is distinctly possible.

“It was a brilliant debut,” Moyes said. “If he keeps playing as well as he did tonight, and keeps scoring two goals every game, he’ll do very well for West Ham. I was going to say unfortunately but if he continues to perform like that, he’ll be pushing for England as well.

“If he keeps up that form, it might be Gareth coming and knocking on his door again. He’ll have his own ambitions to show he’s at a level and tonight he showed a very good level. There’s lots of players who will be pushing for the Euros and why shouldn’t Jesse be among them if he keeps performing like he did tonight?”

Despite having only 179 minutes of cup action under his belt this season, Lingard was granted centre stage, playing in the hole just behind Michail Antonio. West Ham balanced their sense of adventure by playing a second right-back, recalling Ryan Fredericks to offer extra security against Jack Grealish.

There was little to choose between the teams in the first half. Dean Smith admitted his side fell below their usual tempo, however, and their defending was poor, especially against the counterattack early in the second half.

Antonio held the ball up off for Saïd Benrahma, impressing after his £20m move from Brentford, to play an astute ball down the inside-right channel where Soucek guided his right-foot shot low into the far bottom corner.

Despite having more than half an hour to chase an equaliser, Villa committed men forward in kamikaze fashion. West Ham broke over the halfway line with three players against Matty Cash and Douglas Luiz.

Benrahma passed out to Antonio who clipped a fine pass over for Lingard to control with his first touch before scoring with his second. “We got done on the counterattack,” the Villa manager bemoaned. “Sunday League football, you wouldn’t do that.”

Watkins pulled a goal back with a fine sliding shot from Grealish’s pass nine minutes from time but Lingard promptly clinched the victory after another fine assist from Antonio.

“Three points is the most important thing,” Lingard said. “The team worked hard as a collective and we think about the next one against Fulham.

“I started tonight, scored two goals and got three points. I was smiling before the game and during. I just enjoy playing football. It has been a long time.”

Moyes was in an almost jovial mood and his team could be fourth before Liverpool face Manchester City on Sunday. “Did you say top four there?” he asked rhetorically. “We’re in a really good position but we’ll keep knocking on the door and see where it takes us.”