A rejuvenated Jesse Lingard scored twice on his West Ham debut to fire David Moyes' side to an impressive 3-1 win at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Wednesday night
The one-time England international had been frozen out at Manchester United but looked sharp from the first whistle on his first Premier League start of the season, drilling in with his left and right feet (56 & 83) to take the visitors to victory at Villa Park
Ollie Watkins had come close to opening the scoring in the first half, curling a shot onto the outside of the post, but West Ham were on top for long periods and Tomas Soucek (51) finished a fine team move for his eighth of the season to give them a deserved lead
Lingard scored an impressive second himself five minutes later and although Watkins (81) pulled one back, it was the Hammers' new boy who had the final say, shooting through Emiliano Martinez to make it three away wins on the spin for fifth-placed West Ham
 Moyes' men are just two points behind Liverpool in fourth, now, while Aston Villa stay ninth
Lingard had made a goal-scoring contribution on his last appearance in the Premier League in July but 192 days on it was a surprise to see him included in Moyes' starting XI for the first game he was eligible for after his loan switch from Old Trafford
 It was a selection which paid off handsomely
Playing No 10, Lingard linked up impressively with Said Benrahma and Soucek throughout the opening 45 minutes, firing off four shots, including a stinging strike on 16 minutes which Martinez had to parry away
Michail Antonio also tested the Villa 'keeper before the hosts almost scored against the run of play on 27 minutes
Jack Grealish pounced on a miscontrol from Craig Dawson in the West Ham half and played a brilliant reverse pass to Watkins who was in space in the box
 The striker bent a shot goalwards but was just off target, clipping the outside of the post
Ross Barkley pulled another good chance wide on the half-hour mark from a Villa set-piece, before West Ham showed what they could do from a free-kick situation, when Aaron Cresswell drew another smart stop from Martinez
Soucek shot just wide after combining with Lingard and Benrahma as West Ham finished the half on the front foot, and there was also an effort at goal from Vladimir Coufal, who had worked impressively down the right flank with Ryan Fredericks
Villa sent on Bertrand Traore for the ineffective Anwar El Ghazi at half-time but it was the Hammers who got the breakthrough, scoring with a smart team goal
Dawson headed a Villa long ball to Antonio who laid off for Benrahma to slot in Soucek, and the Czech drilled the ball across Martinez and into the far corner
Lingard then beat the Villa 'keeper in similar fashion from the other side of the area moments later, finishing a West Ham counter-attack by chesting down Antonio's cross and firing home his first Hammers goal
West Ham almost went three up on 59 minutes when Ezri Konsa had to make a block in the six-yard box to deny Antonio and Tyrone Mings then had to acrobatically clear an Antonio lob off the goal-line three minutes later as the visitors tried to finish the contest
Out of nowhere, Villa pulled a goal back when Grealish played in Watkins to slot past Lukasz Fabianski - but Lingard responded within a couple of minutes to wrap up the three points and seal a dream debut, although Martinez should have done better with the shot straight at him
 "The best team won tonight
 We weren't at our normal pace
 Probably five games in a short period have caught up with us today, or that's how we looked
 We didn't have that intent we've been playing with
"We gave poor goals away
 We've played two balls into Ollie and it's broken down and they've broken straight through the middle of us
 Emi feels he should do better with the third goal
 The second goal for me was horrendous - it was our free-kick
 It's just poor defending
 It's unlike us
""It was an excellent performance
 We knew this was tough and after a defeat against Liverpool when we knew we didn't play that well, to put in that performance gives you an idea of how the players felt about it
 We moved on
"We're thrilled [with Lingard] because he made a difference to the team
 If he keeps up that form it won't be long until he's back in the England squad
 It was a great opening night for him
 Not only the goals - he made the team play better as well
 I felt we were a little bit short in areas where we can make chances, and he's made a difference already
"It's hard to believe Jesse Lingard has only had three domestic cup run-outs this season
 Despite being shut out from the Manchester United first-team for most of this season, the 28-year-old looked sharp, fit, and energetic at Villa Park
Throughout the first-half there was a clear air of intent to his play
 This was a player with a point to prove
 His link-up play with Soucek, Benrahma, and Antonio was exciting and dangerous
 He was full of confidence and eager to shoot on sight
 And, in the second half, he showed his quality in the key moments
Across both teams, only Soucek ran further than him, only Benrahma made more sprints
 This is a motivated Lingard in good physical condition - and he looks like he's going to be a real asset to West Ham in the second half of the season
One wonders what the onlooking England boss Gareth Southgate made of it
Aston Villa host Arsenal in a 12
30pm kick-off on Saturday, while West Ham travel to Fulham on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Premier League from 5pm; kick-off 5
30pm
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