Aston Villa continued their fine form under manager Unai Emery by holding off West Ham to move back to the brink of the Premier League’s top four.

Tuesday marks the anniversary of Emery’s appointment as Villa boss and the Spaniard has transformed the team since taking over from Steven Gerrard.

An entertaining first half, typical of the free-flowing football Emery has encouraged at Villa Park, saw Douglas Luiz open the scoring and the Brazil midfielder also converted a penalty just after half-time.

A deflected shot by Jarrod Bowen led to a nervy spell for the hosts, but England striker Ollie Watkins then fired in his eighth goal of the season for Villa.

Substitute Leon Bailey struck late on to wrap up an 11th straight league victory at home, Villa’s best run since winning 13 in a row when they were reigning European champions in 1983.

Before Emery’s first game in charge, Villa were 16th in the Premier League – one point off the relegation zone. But he steered them to European qualification last season and now they are back within a point of the Champions League places.

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