Aston Villa 1 West Ham 1
West Ham kept their hopes of European football next season alive with a late equaliser at Villa Park on Saturday.
Diego Tristan's clever header five minutes from time secured a 1-1 draw for the Irons in an entertaining match, keeping them in seventh spot in the Premier League.
The Spaniard's instinctive reaction to divert Kieron Dyer's shot past Brad Friedel cancelled out Emile Heskey's first half strike for Villa.
The England striker slid the ball home from James Milner's cross after just 11 minutes and the home side had plenty of chances to extend their lead, notably when Heskey pounced on a poor Mark Noble backpass but saw his shot rebound off the post.
West Ham created chances of their own, and should have taken the lead after just two minutes when Junior Stanislas missed a golden opportunity when he went clear with just Friedel to beat.
The second half was not quite as action packed as the first, Tristan's goal apart, although James Tomkins was lucky not to concede a penalty when he appeared to handle the ball to deny Jon Carew a shooting opportunity in the last minute.
Hammers' manager Gianfranco Zola was delighted to see his patched-up side take a point from the game.
He said: "We can say that West Ham totally deserved a point and if we'd won the game at the end, then nobody could have said anything.
"It was an exciting game and I believe that everyone can be satisfied with the result, especially us."
Aston Villa: Friedel, L Young, Cuellar, Davies, Shorey, Milner (Gardner, 81), Petrov, Barry, A Young, Heskey (Delfouneso, 70), Carew. Unused subs: Gizan, Sidwell, Knight, Salifou, Reo-Coker.
Booked: A Young, Petrov
Goal: Heskey, 11
West Ham: Green, Tomkins, Ilunga, Collins (dyer, 32), Upson, Boa Morte, Neill, Noble, Stanislas (Savio, 74), Di Michele (Sears, 80), Tristan. Unused subs: Lastuvka, Lopez, Payne, Hines.
Booked: Noble, Boa Morte, Upson.
Goal: Tristan 85
Attendance: 39,534
Referee: Rob Styles
Leave a comment