Nicolo Zaniolo came off the bench to secure a point for Aston Villa as they fought back to draw 1-1 against West Ham United.
Michail Antonio put the Hammers ahead in the first half, heading in for the first time since August, but Zaniolo equalized with a poke-in 11 minutes before the end.
In stoppage time, West Ham thought they had won it with Tomas Soucek’s goal, but it was disallowed after a VAR review for handball.
The draw moves Villa three points ahead of Tottenham Hotspur in fifth place, while West Ham, maintaining their unbeaten home record against Villa with nine matches, remain in seventh.
How the match unfolded
West Ham made two adjustments from their lineup that secured a 5-0 victory against Freiburg in the UEFA Europa League. Alphonse Areola replaced Lukasz Fabianski in goal, while Emerson Palmieri substituted Aaron Cresswell.
Unai Emery made four alterations from their recent 4-0 win against Ajax in the UEFA Europa Conference. Jhon Duran, Youri Tielemans, Ezri Konsa, and Clement Lenglet stepped in for Matty Cash, Diego Carlos, Moussa Diaby, and the suspended John McGinn. Ollie Watkins started despite recovering from a knee cut that forced him off during Thursday night’s match.
Following a balanced start to the match, the first significant opportunity arose for Watkins, but his low shot was deflected around the post by Areola.
West Ham grabbed the lead shortly before the half-hour mark courtesy of Antonio’s exceptional diving header from Coufal’s cross.
Coufal has extended his streak of providing assists in each of his last five league matches at London Stadium.
- West Ham continued to pose a threat, with Mohammed Kudus coming close twice to doubling their lead. His first attempt narrowly missed the target, marking West Ham’s ninth shot of the half, before having a goal disallowed due to a foul in the buildup.
- Antonio appeared to have scored West Ham’s second goal in the 49th minute, but his effort was overturned following a VAR review due to handball.
- Aston Villa intensified their pressure in pursuit of an equalizer, leading Areola to make a crucial save to deny Tielemans’ trademark long-range shot.
- On the other end, Martinez was called into action as he dove to stop Lucas Paqueta’s deflected free-kick from finding the net.
- Zaniolo leveled the score for Villa, calmly finishing from close range after Diaby outmaneuvered Emerson and delivered the ball to the Italian.
Both of Zaniolo’s goals in the Premier League for Villa this season have come as second-half equalizers after he was brought on as a substitute.
West Ham came close to securing a late victory, but substitute James Ward-Prowse’s attempt in the second minute of stoppage time was expertly blocked by Cash.
In a dramatic finale, Ward-Prowse’s free-kick was directed towards the goal by Konstantinos Mavropanos before being bundled over the goal line by Soucek. However, after a VAR review, referee Jarred Gillett overturned the goal decision, ruling it out due to a handball by Soucek.
Key facts
Villa has remained undefeated in their last five away matches in the Premier League (W3 D2), marking their longest unbeaten streak on the road in the competition since November 2008 – February 2009, when they went seven matches without defeat.
West Ham has only lost one out of their 12 encounters against Aston Villa in the Premier League since the 2015/16 season (W6 D5). Among teams they have faced more than 10 times during this period, West Ham hasn’t lost to any other side as few times as they have against Aston Villa.
Zaniolo’s two Premier League goals for Aston Villa this season have both been second-half equalizers after he came off the bench. He also leveled the score against Sheffield United in December 2023.
Aston Villa has had 17 goal involvements from substitutes in the Premier League this season (8 goals, 9 assists), with only Liverpool (22), Arsenal (18), and Newcastle (18) having more. Zaniolo’s equalizer, assisted by Diaby, marks the third occasion this season where two substitutes have combined for a goal for Villa.
