IMAGE: Aston Villa’s Youri Tielemans in action with West Ham United’s Mohammed Kudus during the Premier League match at London Stadium, London, on Sunday. Photograph: Andrew Couldridge/ Action Images via Reuters
West Ham United had three goals ruled out, including what would have been a dramatic stoppage-time winner, as Aston Villa came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw in a fiery Premier League clash on Sunday.
Michail Antonio’s stooping header, his first goal since August, gave the hosts the lead after 29 minutes. West Ham had the ball in the net twice through Mohammed Kudus and Antonio either side of halftime, but neither goal stood.
Villa, who felt they should have had a penalty for handball before West Ham’s opener, equalised in the 79th minute when Nicolo Zaniolo poked home fellow substitute Moussa Diaby’s cutback after a period of sustained pressure.
The visitors, seeking to regain the advantage in a battle with Tottenham Hotspur for fourth place, could not grab a winner and West Ham seemed more likely to take the three points.
James Ward-Prowse was denied by Matty Cash’s fantastic block before the England midfielder’s late free kick was bundled in to spark delirious celebrations at the London Stadium.
But a VAR check of more than five minutes found that the ball had hit Tomas Soucek’s arm before it crossed the line, leaving the home fans frustrated and both sides with a point.
IMAGE: Referee Jarred Gillett walks to the VAR monitor to review a West Ham United goal that is later disallowed. Photograph: Andrew Couldridge/ Action Images via Reuters
West Ham boss David Moyes refused to answer questions after the game about VAR, which had earlier chalked off what would have been a second goal for Antonio.
“I’ve got nothing to say on the VAR decisions, you can contact Howard yourself,” Moyes told reporters, referring to referees’ body PGMOL chief Howard Webb.
Moyes added that VAR decisions had gone against West Ham in recent games against Burnley and German side Freiburg in the Europa League, which he said was “hard to take”.
Villa manager Unai Emery, however, said the decision to rule out West Ham’s winner was “completely fair”.
He told reporters that a point was a good result for Villa, though his side missed a chance to stretch their advantage over their direct rivals for the top four.
Villa remain fourth on 56 points, three points above Spurs in fifth, having played a game more. West Ham are seventh on 44, three points behind sixth-placed Manchester United who have a game in hand.
