Rogers keeps Villa's title tilt on track with late winner at West Ham

When can Aston Villa dare to dream?

- Jacob Steinberg

When will Unai Emery accept that talk of a title challenge is far from fanciful?Villa’s standards dropped and their legs looked heavy but their hunger knows no bounds at the moment. They were stretched by West Ham, who led twice before squandering a vital win in their battle against relegation, and still Emery’s indefatigable side dug deep for a response before emerging victorious for the 15th time in 17 games thanks to a virtuoso display from Morgan Rogers inspiring a second-half turnaround.

This was Villa in fighting mode. They fell behind to the fastest goal in the Premier League this season, trailed 2-1 at halftime and were second best for long spells, but they refused to roll over. West Ham, still stuck in the bottom three despite producing one of their best performances under Nuno Espirito Santo, just could not put them away. They were pegged back by Rogers early in the second half and then, just when it seemed that West Ham were gearing up for a late push, the England international made Nuno’s side rue granting him the space to make it 3-2 with a goal that owed everything to the Villa attacker’s wondrous technique and appetite for risk.