Aston Villa put the events of the previous week behind them to open their account with a solid 3-0 win over West Ham United.
Aston Villa: 3 (Stewart Downing 15', Stiliyan Petrov 40', James Milner 66') West Ham United: 0
Venue: Villa Park Crowd: 36,604 Referee: Andy D'Urso Yellow cards:AV - Marc Albrighton 51' WHU - James Tomkins 60', Julien Faubert 62'
Villa kicked off their season in good style thanks to a 15th minute goal from Stewart Downing who slotted from the six-yard line after Marc Albrighton's shot was not cleared well enough by Hammers keeper Robert Green.
Skipper Stiliyan Petrov made it 2-0 five minutes before the break when he headed home an Ashley Young cross before James Milner rounded out the contest just after the hour-mark with a first time shot after Albrighton did well in the lead up.
In his first Premier League start, Albrighton was dangerous as Villa dominated proceedings to give caretaker coach Kevin Macdonald a perfect start.
Starting Line-Ups
AV Brad Friedel (gk), Ciaran Clark, Richard Dunne, Stephen Warnock, Luke Young, Stiliyan Petrov, James Milner (Reo-Coker 85'), Ashley Young (Weimann 87'), Stewart Downing, Marc Albrighton (Bannan 89'), John Carew
Subs - Brad Guzan (gk), Emile Heskey, Nigel Reo-Coker (85'), Habib Beye, Eric Lichaj, Barry Bannan (89'), Andreas Weimann (87')
WHU Robert Green (gk), Matthew Upson, James Tomkins (Diamanti 73'), Herita Ilunga, Winston Reid, Scott Parker, Radoslav Kovac (Piquionne 45'), Mark Noble, Luis Boa Morte (Barrera 45'), Julien Faubert, Carlton Cole
Subs - Marek Stech (gk), Daniel Gabbidon, Jonathan Spector, Pablo Barrera (45'), Frederic Piquionne (45'), Alessandro Diamanti (73'), Fred Sears
