Aston Villa v West Ham player ratings: Konsa 5, Watkins 7; Rice 9, Bowen 8

High-flying Hammers seal 4-1 win at Villa Park that leaves them fourth in the table and level on points with Manchester City

West Ham United continued their fine form after thrashing 10-man Aston Villa 4-1 in the Premier League on Sunday.

The comprehensive victory leaves David Moyes' side — who are still going strong in the League Cup and Europa League — fourth in the table and level on points with third-placed Manchester City.

Hammers' full-back Ben Johnson opened the scoring after seven minutes when he cut inside Matt Targett before firing home a low shot following a fine cross-field pass from Declan Rice.

Villa levelled through Ollie Watkins, who swept home after 34 minutes following good work from Emiliano Buendia to lift the Villa Park crowd.

But that joy lasted just four minutes when the magnificent Rice drilled a shot through a crowd of Villa defenders and into the bottom corner.

The crucial sending off came early in the second half when Ezri Konsa saw his yellow card for a foul on Jarrod Bowen on the edge of the box upgraded to red following a VAR referral.

Villa remained in the contest, though, until the 80th minute when Pablo Fornals tapped home the third goal from close range after Emiliano Martinez had saved well from Jarrod Bowen.

The fourth followed minutes later after Manuel Lanzini unselfishly teed-up Bowen to finish off the scoring.

Hammers manager Moyes said: “I'm thrilled with the result. The performance perhaps could have been better.

“The red card obviously had a big impact on the game. Overall, I thought we had long periods of good control without making the most of it.”

Moyes' Villa counterpart Dean Smith said: “The red card was the wrong decision; the referee saw it in real time. I asked him why and he said because he was in on goal and the ball was moving towards the goal. Clearly, it wasn't.”

Player ratings from the match can be seen in the picture gallery above. To view the next image, click on the arrows or swipe if on a mobile device.