VILLAINS, THE LOT OF THEM
West Ham 1 Aston Villa 1
Michail Antonio starts a PL home game for West Ham for the first time since he was injured way back when… it seems to be exactly what might be needed after a lacklustre first half against Burnley last weekend.
Villa make early inroads in the game, and when Emerson handles in the area from Bailey’s cross, the crowd breathes a corporate sigh of relief as the referee remains uninterested in the penalty shouts.
Vladimir Coufal is denied by Villa’s world cup winning keeper Martinez, and can only wince as he blazes the rebound wide with the keeper on the floor. A few minutes later Antonio robs the defender in possession and wins a throw from which Coufal hits a low cross which Antonio puts into the back of the Villa net with a brilliant diving header. Yet another Coufal assist. That is Antonio’s first goal since he scored at the Amex back in August 2023. Brutal but telling stat.
The second half builds on West Ham’s dominant first, and Antonio hits a second early in the half, but although it appears to come off his shoulder, it is adjudged to have been handled, so VARred out. Paquetá has a free kick beaten away by Martinez.
Villa make two substitutions and begin to turn the game around, Areola saving well from Konsa, but ten minutes from time Zaniola hits the ball home after a scrambling in the West Ham defence.
Now comes a West Ham last rally, Ward-Prowse’s shot blocked by Matty Cash, and finally deep into injury time, the ex-Southampton man pumps in a free-kick which Souček forces over the line. What a brilliant last minute win… it isn’t. After nearly five minutes, the sharp VAR team at Twatley Lodge send the referee to the miserable monitor, and the hapless official offers to overrule his own decision.
It does make you want to cry. They are still arguing about the decision late into the evening, and even Match of the Day, who manage to get the teams the wrong way round in the opening credits, even though there is only one Premier League game being played, fail to resolve whether it should have been a goal or not.
What a miserable, failing, analytical device, which has failed us for most of this season, Come to think of it, VAR hasn’t been that good, either.
13 Alphonse Areola, 33 Emerson, 4 Kurt Zouma (captain), 5 Vladimir Coufal, 15 Konstantinos Mavropanos, 10 Lucas Paquetá, 19 Edson Álvarez, 28 Tomas Souček, 14 Mohammed Kudus, 9 Michail Antonio, 20 Jarrod Bowen
Substitutes: 3 Aaron Cresswell, 7 James Ward-Prowse, 2 Ben Johnson
Goalscorer: Michael Antonio (38)
