West Ham held to draw with Aston Villa after late VAR controversy
The Villans’ search for a first-ever win at the London Stadium continues, extending the hosts’ unbeaten H2H record to nine games on home soil (W4, D5).
Both sides came into this match in good spirits thanks to comfortable midweek victories that sealed quarter-final places in their respective European competitions.
Villa were hoping to secure just their second PL double over West Ham, but for all their first-half possession, the Villans were struggling to make inroads.
Morgan Rogers looked lively for the visitors, yet it was the hosts creating the best chances, with Lucas Paquetá’s effort deflecting off Tomáš Souček and narrowly wide of the post.
Vladimír Coufal was left out of the Czech Republic squad for their upcoming international friendlies, but the right-back showed his value for West Ham here.
After unleashing a fierce deflected strike towards Emiliano Martínez, Coufal provided a pin-point cross to allow Michail Antonio to break the deadlock with a diving header, handing West Ham a deserved HT lead.
Concerned with what he’d seen in the first half, Unai Emery made a pair of alterations at the break, yet it was West Ham with the ball in the net within five minutes of the restart.
Thankfully for Villa, Antonio was adjudged to have handled the ball as he turned in Jarrod Bowen’s corner delivery whilst under pressure from Martínez.
That disallowed goal appeared to act as a wake-up call for Villa, who began to exert pressure on the Hammers’ backline, testing Areola with a long-range Youri Tielemans strike before Ezri Konsa forced another save from close range.
Eventually, Emery’s substitutions had the desired effect as West Ham finally buckled under the pressure. Brilliant wing play from Moussa Diaby allowed the France international to cut the ball back where Nicolò Zaniolo arrived in space to turn in the equaliser.
James Ward-Prowse had the chance to steal all three points in stoppage time, only to be denied by a vital Matty Cash block before a dramatic late winner was chalked off after an incredibly long VAR check determined there was handball as the ball was bundled in by Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Having comfortably won the reverse fixture 4-1 back in October, Villa ultimately had to settle for a point as they continued their impressive recent record in London (W6, D3) – their longest unbeaten streak in the capital.
Emery may look back on this as two points dropped, however, as the Villans’ aspirations of a top-four finish hang in the balance, with a three-point cushion over their closest rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Meanwhile, a fourth straight PL match without defeat sees West Ham close the gap on sixth-place Manchester United to just three points as they seek yet more European football.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Michail Antonio (West Ham United)
