Not since Super Saturday at the Olympics a decade ago has there been a moment to bring tears to the eyes of everyone in this stadium. And not since West Ham United moved here in 2016 has a goal been celebrated with so much emotion.
Midway through the second half both sets of supporters rose to applaud Andriy Yarmolenko’s brilliant strike, which broke the deadlock, and to salute his return from compassionate leave owing to the war in his homeland of Ukraine.
It was a special moment. The winger, on as a substitute 18 minutes earlier, cushioned Saïd Benrahma’s cross with the side of his right foot and, in one movement, hopped to readjust his body before firing home with his left. Aston Villa’s fans applauded too.
Yarmolenko, who was surrounded by every outfield team-mate, covered his face with both hands and fell to his knees crying. The tears flowed as he walked back to the halfway line as the stadium announcer shouted: “Goal for West Ham and Ukraine.” He clapped to acknowledge the fans and later collapsed in exhaustion on the pitch at the final whistle and had to be brought to his feet by two team-mates. Yarmolenko entered the dressing room to applause and claps from the players.
The 32-year-old had trained for only a few days and was absent for four matches after being given time off when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. He was born in St Petersburg and grew up in Chernihiv, 140km north of Kyiv, a city that has been heavily bombed.
Yarmolenko has spent most days phoning home to check on his family, some of whom remain in the country. His wife and child have travelled to London. “It was so emotional for me; it is so difficult for me right now to think about football because every day the Russian army is killing Ukrainian people,” Yarmolenko said.
“I had to rest for four days because it was impossible to train. I was just thinking about my family and my people. I just tried to give everything on the pitch.”
He did not want to go into the details about his family when the situation has affected so many. He was due to return against Seville in the first leg of the Europa League round-of-16 tie on Thursday but fell ill before the match in Spain.
“I just want to say thank you to my team-mates, who support me all the time, every day, and to West Ham fans, who also support me, and Ukrainian people and to all British people, because we feel you support us,” he said.
“Thank you, really. I tried to give everything on the pitch because I know how important the game was for us today.”
Yarmolenko, who joined West Ham from Borussia Dortmund in 2018, has been a peripheral figure in the past couple of seasons. He has not started any of his 12 Premier League matches this season and this was his first goal in the competition since a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa on the final day of the season in July 2020.
“I didn’t have a lot of time and you need to do everything really quick and I was quick enough,” he said of the goal that gave West Ham the lead in the 70th minute. “It has been really important to feel the support from the manager and my team-mates and the fans. When I feel it, I give everything for the fans and the club.”
He spoke to David Moyes, his manager, on Saturday and said that he felt ready to return.
West Ham have offered help and support and Moyes said that Lukasz Fabianski, the goalkeeper from Ukraine’s neighbouring country of Poland, had played his part in helping Yarmolenko and his family, though he declined to elaborate on the nature of the assistance for personal reasons.
“I hope in some way, if the media big it up enough, it will do something to help stop this and maybe give the Ukrainians something to shout about,” Moyes said.
“He has family members in Ukraine and family here, and Fabianski has been a really big help to him regarding getting into Poland as well.
“There has been a real team effort behind the scenes. Karren Brady [the West Ham vice-chairman] has been on the phone, asking what can we do. If any of his family members are over we would try to make sure we can do the right things for them, if we had to do that.”
Yarmolenko would not have expected to come on so early but Michail Antonio suffered a suspected hamstring injury seven minutes into the second half. Moyes does not know the extent of the problem but it could leave him without a recognised striker as his team seek to come from 1-0 down against Seville in the second leg on Thursday. They meet Tottenham Hotspur three days later in a crucial Premier League match. Nikola Vlasic and Jarrod Bowen, who can play up front, are also on the sidelines.
Until Yarmolenko struck, there was little between the teams, who looked tired after both playing on Thursday.
Benrahma, making his first start in five matches, claimed two assists while trying to show that he can produce a reliable end-product to match his dribbling skills.
There were reminders of both sides of his game as he shifted the ball to his left and had an early shot saved and then ran with the ball straight into an opponent.
Of the former Brentford forward’s previous nine goal involvements, four were in two matches and a further three came in three matches around the turn of the year, underling the lengthy periods in which he fails to make a strong impact.
After Fabianski made a brilliant stop at his near post from Danny Ings, Declan Rice burst clear before passing to Benrahma, who set up Pablo Fornals to double the lead. Jacob Ramsey then turned the ball home from Emi Buendía’s layoff in the final minute.
Steven Gerrard said that his Villa side can learn from West Ham. “We need more profile in our team, stature,” he said. “There’s a few areas where I thought West Ham had a bit more than us in terms of stature: how they defend, set plays and crosses — there was a gap.”
Villa left pointless and worrying about Lucas Digne’s thigh problem, as well as the fitness of Douglas Luiz and Calum Chambers, who suffered facial injuries. Yarmolenko left to acclaim — and more serious worries
West Ham (4-2-3-1): L Fabianski 7 — B Johnson 6, C Dawson 7, K Zouma 6, A Cresswell 6 (R Fredericks 57min, 6) — D Rice 7, T Soucek 6 — S Benrahma 7 (I Diop 87), M Lanzini 6, P Fornals 7 — M Antonio 6 (A Yarmolenko 52, 8). Booked: Lanzini.
Aston Villa (4-3-1-2): E Martínez 6 — M Cash 6, C Chambers 6, T Mings, L Digne 6 (A Young 10, 6) — J McGinn 6, D Luiz 7 (E Buendia, 79), J Ramsey 7 — P Coutinho 6 — D Ings 6 (L Bailey, 69), O Watkins 6.
Referee: J Gillett
