West Ham United drew for the fifth Barclays Premier League fixture in a row after failing to land a Boxing Day knockout at Aston Villa
Aston Villa 1-1 West Ham United
Barclays Premier League, Villa Park, Saturday 26 December 2015
West Ham United drew for the fifth Barclays Premier League fixture in a row after failing to land a Boxing Day knockout at bottom club Aston Villa.
The Hammers looked on course for a welcome first win in eight games when Aaron Cresswell smashed home in first-half stoppage time, only for Jordan Ayew’s penalty to grab Villa a deserved point.
The first half was a competitive affair, even if the quality of play in the final third may not have been up to the standard demanded by Slaven Bilic and Remi Garde.
With injuries again depriving Bilic of six first-team players, including five attackers, the visitors struggled to create the clear-cut opportunities needed to put the game beyond Villa after Cresswell’s long-range strike.
West Ham’s early momentum was slowed by another injury, with James Tomkins suffering a nasty cut below his eye after clashing heads with Alan Hutton. Despite resuming after lengthy treatment Tomkins would be replaced at half-time.
In the meantime, both sides went close once in the opening 25 minutes, Rudy Gestede heading Jordan Veretout’s left-wing cross narrowly wide before Mauro Zarate tested Brad Guzan with a low drive which the American tipped past the post.
After a period in the ascendancy, Villa then lost Carlos Sanchez to a hamstring injury and then a goal to Cresswell, who collected Michail Antonio’s cross-field pass before firing a low, left-foot shot past Guzan and into the bottom right-hand corner.
West Ham replaced Tomkins with Carl Jenkinson at the break and, after a brief period of pressure from the visitors, Garde’s men took control and created a succession of decent chances.
Gestede headed over before Adrian dived to his right to keep out goal-bound efforts from Veretout and then the big Benin striker, who proved to be a real handful on his return to the starting XI. West Ham attacked sparingly, with Collins’ glancing header over the bar their only chance of note.
Just after the hour-mark, Villa got their reward for an improved showing when Angelo Ogbonna was penalised for bundling over Gestede, and Ayew sent Adrian the wrong way from the penalty spot.
Having levelled, Villa caused a few further moments of panic, but it was West Ham who had the next half-chance, but penalty appeals were ignored after Mark Noble’s fierce volley thundered into Leandro Bacuna.
Ashley Westwood then volleyed over as Villa went back on the front foot, and Collins had to be in exactly the right place to deny former teammate Hutton, whose header looked destined for the Hammers net.
Bilic sent on Alex Song and Reece Oxford in a bid to slow the hosts’ charge and the move paid off, with Pedro Obiang testing Guzan, who then kept out Valencia’s dipping free-kick in the final minute of added time.
In the final analysis, West Ham may have surrendered their lead, but with so many regular starters absent, this was another point earned through teamwork and resilience.
The Hammers will hope to welcome back some of those absent players when they welcome Southampton to the Boleyn Ground on Monday 28 December at 5.30pm.
Aston Villa: Guzan, Hutton, Okore, Lescott (c), Bacuna, Westwood, Sanchez (Gil 38), Gana, Veretout (Adama 83), Ayew, Gestede
Subs not used: Bunn (GK), Clark, Sinclair, Richardson, Grealish
Goal: Ayew (61 pen)
Booked: Bacuna, Hutton, Lescott
West Ham United: Adrian, Tomkins (Jenkinson 46), Collins, Ogbonna, Cresswell (Song 75), Obiang, Noble (c), Kouyate, Zarate (Oxford 85), Antonio, Valencia
Subs not used: Randolph (GK), Hendrie, Cullen, Parfitt-Williams
Goal: Cresswell (45+2)
Booked: Ogbonna, Collins, Kouyate
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)
Attendance: 38,661
Barclays Premier League, Villa Park, Saturday 26 December 2015
West Ham United drew for the fifth Barclays Premier League fixture in a row after failing to land a Boxing Day knockout at bottom club Aston Villa.
The Hammers looked on course for a welcome first win in eight games when Aaron Cresswell smashed home in first-half stoppage time, only for Jordan Ayew’s penalty to grab Villa a deserved point.
The first half was a competitive affair, even if the quality of play in the final third may not have been up to the standard demanded by Slaven Bilic and Remi Garde.
With injuries again depriving Bilic of six first-team players, including five attackers, the visitors struggled to create the clear-cut opportunities needed to put the game beyond Villa after Cresswell’s long-range strike.
West Ham’s early momentum was slowed by another injury, with James Tomkins suffering a nasty cut below his eye after clashing heads with Alan Hutton. Despite resuming after lengthy treatment Tomkins would be replaced at half-time.
In the meantime, both sides went close once in the opening 25 minutes, Rudy Gestede heading Jordan Veretout’s left-wing cross narrowly wide before Mauro Zarate tested Brad Guzan with a low drive which the American tipped past the post.
After a period in the ascendancy, Villa then lost Carlos Sanchez to a hamstring injury and then a goal to Cresswell, who collected Michail Antonio’s cross-field pass before firing a low, left-foot shot past Guzan and into the bottom right-hand corner.
West Ham replaced Tomkins with Carl Jenkinson at the break and, after a brief period of pressure from the visitors, Garde’s men took control and created a succession of decent chances.
Gestede headed over before Adrian dived to his right to keep out goal-bound efforts from Veretout and then the big Benin striker, who proved to be a real handful on his return to the starting XI. West Ham attacked sparingly, with Collins’ glancing header over the bar their only chance of note.
Just after the hour-mark, Villa got their reward for an improved showing when Angelo Ogbonna was penalised for bundling over Gestede, and Ayew sent Adrian the wrong way from the penalty spot.
Having levelled, Villa caused a few further moments of panic, but it was West Ham who had the next half-chance, but penalty appeals were ignored after Mark Noble’s fierce volley thundered into Leandro Bacuna.
Ashley Westwood then volleyed over as Villa went back on the front foot, and Collins had to be in exactly the right place to deny former teammate Hutton, whose header looked destined for the Hammers net.
Bilic sent on Alex Song and Reece Oxford in a bid to slow the hosts’ charge and the move paid off, with Pedro Obiang testing Guzan, who then kept out Valencia’s dipping free-kick in the final minute of added time.
In the final analysis, West Ham may have surrendered their lead, but with so many regular starters absent, this was another point earned through teamwork and resilience.
The Hammers will hope to welcome back some of those absent players when they welcome Southampton to the Boleyn Ground on Monday 28 December at 5.30pm.
Aston Villa: Guzan, Hutton, Okore, Lescott (c), Bacuna, Westwood, Sanchez (Gil 38), Gana, Veretout (Adama 83), Ayew, Gestede
Subs not used: Bunn (GK), Clark, Sinclair, Richardson, Grealish
Goal: Ayew (61 pen)
Booked: Bacuna, Hutton, Lescott
West Ham United: Adrian, Tomkins (Jenkinson 46), Collins, Ogbonna, Cresswell (Song 75), Obiang, Noble (c), Kouyate, Zarate (Oxford 85), Antonio, Valencia
Subs not used: Randolph (GK), Hendrie, Cullen, Parfitt-Williams
Goal: Cresswell (45+2)
Booked: Ogbonna, Collins, Kouyate
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)
Attendance: 38,661