Free

Late goal disallowed as Villa salvage draw at West Ham

Updated March 18 2024 - 7:00am, first published 6:54am
A late VAR review for handball deprived West Ham of a win against Aston Villa at the London Stadium. (AP PHOTO)
A late VAR review for handball deprived West Ham of a win against Aston Villa at the London Stadium. (AP PHOTO)

Aston Villa have gone three points clear of Tottenham in the battle to earn a top-four place in the Premier League following a 1-1 draw at West Ham.

In the only EPL match of the day, Nicolo Zaniolo struck an equaliser in the second half on Sunday to secure what could be an important point in Villa's bid for Champions League qualification.

West Ham, who'd gone ahead through a Michail Antonio header, thought they'd snatched a late winner when Tomas Soucek struck in the sixth minute of time added on.

Yet the goal was disallowed by VAR for handball - much to the frustration of West Ham boss David Moyes.

Australian referee Jarred Gillett and VAR Tony Harrington spent more than five minutes determining whether the goal should stand before it was ruled to have hit Soucek's arm.

Antonio also had a goal disallowed for handball earlier in the half.

"It's what VAR do, it's their decision not ours, we can't do anything about it. It's there to do the job," Moyes shrugged.

"In the second half, Villa stepped it up, they were the better team for periods. I was really pleased with how we performed overall."

Antonio had headed West Ham in front in the 29th minute at their home London Stadium.

Villa lost 4-0 against Spurs last week and were in danger of suffering back-to-back defeats in the league, but Nicolo Zaniolo levelled in the 79th.

The draw means fourth-placed Villa extend their lead over fifth-placed Tottenham to three points, having played a game more. Tottenham's hopes took a blow when they lost 3-0 at Fulham on Saturday.

Australian Associated Press