SOCCER/ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:FORTUNE MAY continue to hide for Gianfranco Zola, but his players do not. Here he lost two more key performers to injury, including top scorer Carlton Cole, and saw his team concede a dubious second-half penalty, but defiant West Ham rebelled against malevolent circumstance to plunder their first victory in 10 Premier League games.
Zavon Hines, the 19-year-old who had come on in place of Cole, struck the winner deep into stoppage-time after Ashley Young had cancelled out Mark Noble’s first-half opener.
West Ham began vibrantly and had the visitors in a fluster as early as the second minute, and only frantic last-ditch defending by Richard Dunne and James Collins prevented first Guillermo Franco and then Noble from getting off a clean shot from 12 yards.
In the fourth minute Emile Heskey, operating wide on the left in place of the injured James Milner, released striker Gabriel Agbonlahor, who had enough time and space to carry the ball into the box where he betrayed the fact that poise is a quality he has yet to develop by shooting hastily from 25 yards. Rob Green barely had to move to save it.
Ashley Young’s influence might have been expected to grow after an injury to Herita Ilunga after only eight minutes forced Zola to introduce Jonathan Spector in the unfamiliar role of left-back, but in the first period his impact was restricted to corner kicks. In the 21st minute one such set-piece was cleared as far as Stilyan Petrov, who met it with a thunderous 25-yard volley that forced a fine one-handed save from Green.
In between those Villa chances Noble brought a decent save from Brad Friedel from 15 yards as West Ham underlined the engaging nature of the contest by proving that their interplay could occasionally threaten. Much of their cutting edge, however, was soon to be blunted as they suffered yet another injury, and one that, depending on its severity, could have grim repercussions for their season: there was no mistaking the fretful groans among the Upton Park faithful as Cole hobbled off in the 32nd minute, seemingly with a recurrence of his hamstring troubles.
Seconds before half-time, Hines raced on to a Scott Parker throughball before being felled by Habib Beye. The reaction of the Villa players indicated their disagreement with the refereee’s decision to award a penalty, but Noble left no room for quibbling with his emphatic finish.
Far more contentious was Steve Bennett’s decision to penalise West Ham within two minutes of the restart. No obvious offence was committed as Manuel da Costa climbed above Collins to head the ball clear, and West Ham players evidently felt justice was served when Green repelled Young’s low spot-kick. Young was soon to atone for that miss in spectacular fashion, cutting in from the left before curling the ball into the top corner from 20 yards.
That was the end of Villa’s attacking, however, as West Ham stretched the visitors and in the third minute of stoppage-time, Hines took possession as the ball pinged around the Villa box and stabbed it home from six yards.
WEST HAM: Green, Upson, Da Costa, Ilunga (Spector 8), Parker, Noble, Faubert, Behrami, Collison, Franco (Jimenez 88), Cole (Hines 32).
ASTON VILLA: Friedel, Dunne, Beye, Warnock, Collins, Sidwell, A Young, Petrov, Carew (Young 86), Agbonlahor, Heskey (Reo-Coker 46).
Referee: S Bennett.
