West Ham 1 Aston Villa 1 - Report and pictures

Skipper Jack Grealish fired the visitors in front with just six minutes remaining at the London Stadium, only for Andriy Yarmolenko to immediately equalise and set up a nerve-shredding finish.

Villa held out for a draw which was enough to secure their safety as Watford fell to a 3-2 defeat at Arsenal.

Analysis

Bournemouth’s 3-1 win at Everton meant Villa had to take something from the game and their Premier League safety was in the balance right up until the moment referee Michael Oliver took the final blast of his whistle.

With Watford still playing at Arsenal, boss Dean Smith, his players and staff then gathered on the pitch, before wild scenes of celebration as news of the final whistle from that game filtered through.

Just minutes earlier there had been high tension as Villa looked to see the draw out.

Grealish’s thumping strike looked to have eased any worries but Yarmolenko’s hugely-deflected effort a minute later piled them right back on.

In the end Villa saw it out to complete a remarkable escape from the drop. Smith’s team sat seven points from safety with four matches remaining but found a way to pull off the almost unthinkable.

Villa’s day got an early boost when Arsenal scored in the opening five minutes against Watford but then almost trailed themselves.

Issa Diop’s long ball was completely misjudged by Konsa, allowing Michail Antonio to race in. The striker has been in stunning form but on this occasion skewed his finish wide of the post, much to Villa’s relief.

The visitors first chance fell to Samatta but his header from Guilbert’s cross was straight at Lukas Fabianski in the West Ham goal. McGinn then turned neatly before firing wide from 25 yards out.

It was the hosts, however, who gradually began to dominate possession, with Villa looking nervy. In one passage of play both Matt Targett (twice) and Trezeguet conceded possession in dangerous areas, Tomas Soucek almost getting on the end of an Antonio cross as Villa struggled to ease the pressure.

But while it was the home side had the territorial advantage, clear-cut chances remained thin on the ground, Declan Rice twice thumping wide from distance.

Villa started the second half brightly and had the hosts on the back foot but Samatta missed his kick when trying to connect with Conor Hourihane’s cross, while Trezeguet’s shot was then cleared by Angelo Ogbonna.

With Bournemouth leading at Everton, the visitors’ nerves were still jangling and when Targett lunged in to bring down Noble on the corner of the box, Andriy Yarmolenko fired the free-kick into the side-netting.

Smith made his first change at the second drinks break, Keinan Davis replacing the ineffective Mbwana Samatta. Yet it was West Ham who again threatened when one of their substitutes, Sebastien Haller, headed over a Noble cross.

Villa were looking to Grealish for inspiration and he nearly provided it with a short corner routine. But having cut in from the left, his shot took a nick off a defender and over.

With six minutes remaining, Grealish put Villa ahead, collecting the ball on the edge of the box before shifting it onto his left and blasting a shot which Fabianski should have saved but didn’t.

The celebrations were wild, the entire Villa team racing to the bench to celebrate.

Yet barely a minute later the visitors had to regain their focus after the hosts netted a freakish equaliser. Yarmolenko checked onto his left before hitting a shot which looped horribly off Grealish, over Reina and into the net.

Villa saw the remaining minutes out with little alarm but the tension remained close to unbearable.

Teams

West Ham (4-2-3-1): Fabianski, Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Johnson, Rice, Soucek, Fornals (Lanzini 67), Noble (Anderson 87), Bowen (Yarmolenko HT), Antonio (Haller HT) Subs not used: Balbuena, Wilshire, Coventry, Xande Silva, Randolph (gk).

Villa (4-3-3): Reina, Guilbert (Hause 76), Konsa, Mings, Targett, McGinn, Luiz, Hourihane (Nakamba 76), Trezeguet (El Ghazi 90), Samatta (Davis 67), Grealish Subs not used: Taylor, Lansbury, Jota, Vassilev, Nyland (gk).