Konstantinos Mavropanos was West Ham United’s stand-out performer for the second Premier League game in a row as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side slipped to a 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa.
Mavropanos produced a defensive display for the ages as the Hammers frustrated Manchester City eight days earlier.
This time though, as West Ham United slipped well short of the standards they set against Pep Guardiola’s newly-crowned Carabao Cup champions, the big centre-back had a lot less competition for the Man of the Match gong.
A very underwhelming Villa Park defeat! 🙄
Describe THAT performance in one word…
Jarrod Bowen of West Ham United runs with the ball under pressure from Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and West Ham United at Villa Park on March 22, 2026 in Birmingham, England.
We at Hammers News asked our TalkingPoint users to vote for their star man at Villa Park.
At the time of writing, Konstantinos Mavropanos accumulated a staggering – but not unexpected – 94 per cent of the vote.
Dinos Mavropanos the best of a bad West Ham United bunch
Konstantinos Mavropanos during Aston Villa v West Ham United - Premier League
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Mavropanos finished ahead of Mads Hermansen on 83 per cent after that Man City draw at the London Stadium. There was little chance of the goalkeeper finishing on the podium this weekend.
Hermansen spilled Morgan Rogers’ shot at Ollie Watkins’ feet as Aston Villa secured three vital points in their Champions League charge after a trio of successive defeats.
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Axel Disasi was questioned following John McGinn’s 15th minute opener. Could the Frenchman have got in the way of McGinn’s curling shot? Taty Castellanos failed to register a shot on target for the fifth time in eleven Premier League games, Jarrod Bowen was largely ineffective, and Mateus Fernandes outnumbered by Villa’s four-man midfield.
Mavropanos was not only West Ham’s stand-out performer, then, but arguably the only West Ham player who performed at the top of their game in the Midlands.
Mavropanos reacts to disappointing Aston Villa defeat
As former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie said on Sky Sports, Aston Villa could have been four or five goals up at half-time if not for Mavropanos. The Greek gladiator cleared two goal-bound efforts off the line, denied Ollie Watkins a back-post tap-in, and also forced referee Paul Tierney into overturning a penalty following one superbly-timed sliding challenge.
Where would West Ham be right NOW if we hadn’t sacked Graham Potter? 🤔
Let's here your views!
Nuno Espirito Santo, manager of West Ham United, looks on during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and West Ham United at Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom, on March 22, 2026. Sweden's coach Graham Potter arrives on the pitch prior to the FIFA World Cup 2026 European qualification Group B football match between Sweden and Slovenia, in Solna on November 18, 2025.
“I think the second half was much better,” Mavropanos told the club’s official website on a day when Tottenham’s 3-0 hammering by Nottingham Forest offset the frustrations to an extent.
“In the first-half, we were not in control defensively. They created a lot of spaces in between, and they tried to play deep, so it was a little bit difficult for us to manage it.
“But as I said in the second half, we were better managing the game, and unfortunately we conceded the second goal, and we couldn’t score on the other side.
“We were more compact, and we controlled better the situations, like running at the back of spaces in between.”
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