Jesse Lingard marked his West Ham United debut with two second-half goals as David Moyes’ side beat Aston Villa 3-1 at Villa Park.
Both teams had first-half chances, Ollie Watkins clipping the outside of a post for the hosts and Tomas Soucek curling narrowly wide.
It was Soucek who broke the deadlock, latching on to Said Benrahma’s through-ball and picking out the bottom-left corner six minutes after the restart.
Lingard doubled West Ham’s lead five minutes later, controlling Michail Antonio’s cross on his chest before firing across Emiliano Martinez.
Watkins halved the deficit following a neat exchange with Jack Grealish but Lingard removed any chance of a Villa comeback with another finish through Martinez seven minutes from time.
A third straight away Premier League victory lifts West Ham to fifth with 38 points, two behind fourth-placed Liverpool.
Villa are six points behind the Hammers in ninth, with two matches in hand.