Aston Villa's fans were left disappointed once again, as their three game unbeaten run in the league was ended by West Ham United, who won 2-0 in London.

With Jordan Ayew's red-card for lashing out at Aaron Cresswell leaving Villa limited going forward, and their backs to the wall defensively. Despite holding out for just under an hour, Michail Antonio eventually put the Hammers ahead, before Cheikhou Kouyate added a second five minutes from time. 

Despite West Ham unsurprisingly threatening through Dmitri Payet early on, the Frenchman seeing a shot blocked just to the left of Mark Bunn's goal, Villa did make much the better start on their final trip to Upton Park.

Jordan Ayew went close early on, latching on to a corner that had evaded Adrian, only for Winston Reid to deflect the ball over the bar. Continuing to go forward, they could well have had a penalty with 10 minutes gone, as Gabriel Agbonlahor's cross seemed to strike the arm of Michail Antonio, but the referee signalled play on. 

Ayew red card ruins early good work

However, disaster struck not long after, as Ayew was sent off by referee Jonathan Moss, who has now produced a red card on each of his visits to Upton Park this season. This was as straightforward as they come, with the striker wildly throwing an elbow towards the face of Aaron Cresswell, despite the left-back having done little but mark him. 

That sending off gave the Hammers momentum, and with the ball now much easier to keep, they began to create chances. Payet and Cresswell were involved in a fluid move that set up Cheikhou Kouyate, only for the midfielder to curl into Bunn's arms. An even better chance followed on the half hour mark, with a poor punch from Bunn leaving his goal exposed, only for Enner Valencia to head over from inside the six yard box. 

Ayew is given his marching orders (photo: Getty)
Ayew is given his marching orders (photo: Getty)

Bunn heroics keep Villans alive for a while

Villa were having to defend deeper and work much harder as a unit with their reduced team, which led to the odd sloppy foul towards the close of the first-half. One did almost cost them, as Valencia got the chance to line up a free-kick from 30 yards out, going close with an effort that dipped just wide. That miss ensured that the visitors made it to the break without trailing, even harder work lay ahead.

Having rejected any possibilty of a deadline day move to Sunderland, captain Micah Richards did extremely well to prevent the home side from going ahead minutes after the game resumed, clearing the ball with some acrobatics in the six yard box, with four Hammers ready to pounce around him.

Bunn was at his impressive best, keeping Villa in the game despite taking a nasty blow to the knee as he collided with the woodwork, attempting to save a Payet free-kick which hit the post. Just prior to that, the 'keeper stretched brilliantly to tip Mark Noble's shot wide, with the Englishman catching a volley well having had the ball cut back to him from a corner. 

Mark Bunn had a terrific game (photo: Getty)
Mark Bunn had a terrific game (photo: Getty)

Noble pass eventually breaks Villa's defences

Still, in vain of all their hard work, Villa were likely to concede at some point, and did with 58 minutes played. Noble was the provider, making a fantastic assist by pinging a 40-yard-pass into Antonio's path, and the substitute made no mistake in sending a superb header into the corner of the net. 

That seemed to knock the stuffing out of the Villans, who lost their eagerness to win the ball back, and remained stifled going forward. West Ham could smell a second goal, but Bunn kept plugging away, tipping a Cresswell effort around the post. Man of the Match Noble was looking to get on the scoresheet himself, but couldn't keep an effort down from the edge of the area.

Kouyate seals the win from a ruthless counter

The second goal did eventually come for the hosts, a clinical counter-attack coming from a rare Villa corner. With Garde's men having committed all but one outfield players to attack, West Ham broke with pace, Kouyate eventually clipping the ball over Bunn after being played in by Valencia.

Kouyate's goal sealed the game for West Ham, as they saw out the remaining few minutes in front of their delighted fans, but have they sealed relegation? The B6 side are now 10 points from safety with 14 games to play, and that gap could grow even bigger should Newcastle United win on Wednesday evening. 

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