Aston Villa came back from a goal down, and came out on the right side of two key video reviews, to steal a hard-fought point in a 1-1 draw away to West Ham on Sunday.
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The result puts Aston Villa (56 points) three points above Tottenham in the race for the top four, having now played one more game than Spurs. West Ham (44 points) remain 7th in the Premier League table, now three points behind Manchester United for 6th.
After an uneventful opening 15 minutes, West Ham turned up the pressure and put Aston Villa on the back foot for the remainder of the first half. Tomas Soucek looked certain to score, but put his shot wide from seven yards out in the 18th minute. Vladimir Coufal burst into the penalty area and smashed a low stinger toward goal in the 26th minute, but Emiliano Martinez got a hand to the ball and a friendly face in white booted it clear.
Three minutes later, Villa weren’t so fortunate, as Coufal served up a curling cross to the top of the six-yard box. Making his first PL start since mid-February, Michail Antonio made the patented back post run to just the right spot at just the right time, stooping down low to thump the ball into the back of the net with his head and score his first PL goal since Aug. 26 and just his third of the season (all competitions).
West Ham picked up right where they left off after halftime, too, and thought they had doubled their advantage in the 49th minute as Antonio bagged his second of the game. However, video review revealed that it was actually Antonio’s arm which the ball struck in a coming-together of bodies before eventually going over the line.
As the second half wore on, Aston Villa took a strong hold of the ball and pinned West Ham deeper and deeper inside their defensive half. Ironically, it was one of their few counter-attacking opportunities, after West Ham ventured forward, that got them level on the scoreboard. Moussa Diaby raced clear and danced down the right wing to create a bit of space near the end line. He cut it back toward the penalty spot, and Nicolo Zaniolo came streaking into the penalty area to poke it past Alphonse Areola for 1-1.
There was plenty of drama still to unfold, though, as Soucek bundled the ball over the line deep into stoppage time to give West Ham a 2-1 lead with hardly any time left to play. Alas, after a nearly six-minute video review parsed through the almighty goal-mouth scramble and decided the ball had once again come off a Hammer’s arm with the final touch.
What’s next?
After the upcoming international break, West Ham will be back in Premier League action on Saturday, March 30 (8:30 am ET), when they head to the northeast to take on Newcastle at St. James’ Park. Aston Villa will host Wolves in a West Midlands Derby at Villa Park later the same day (1:30 pm ET).
Player ratings - West Ham vs Aston Villa
West Ham vs Aston Villa, final score: 1-1
Goalscorers: Michail Antonio (29'), Nicolo Zaniolo (79')
79th minute - GOAL - Nicolo Zaniolo pokes home Moussa Diaby’s cross to make it 1-1
29th minute - GOAL - Michail Antonio stoops low to head home the opener
How to watch West Ham vs Aston Villa live, stream link and start time
Kick off: 10am ET Sunday
TV Channel: USA Network
Stream: Online via NBC.com
West Ham starting lineup
Areola — Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma, Emerson — Alvarez, Soucek, Paqueta — Bowen, Antonio, Kudus
Aston Villa starting lineup
Martinez — Konsa, Lenglet, Torres, Moreno — Luiz, Tielemans, Bailey, Rogers — Duran, Watkins
West Ham focus, team news
OUT: Maxwel Cornet (hamstring)
Aston Villa focus, team news
OUT: John McGinn (suspension), Diego Carlos (hamstring), Boubacar Kamara (torn ACL - out for season), Emiliano Buendia (torn ACL - out for season), Tyrone Mings (torn ACL - out for season) | QUESTIONABLE: Jacob Ramsey (foot)
