West Ham holds on with 10 men for 0-0 draw at Aston Villa
BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Ten-man West Ham held on for a 0-0 draw at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Monday after Arthur Masuaku was sent off midway through the second half.
Masuaku was given a second booking for tripping Villa substitute Ahmed Elmohamady in the 67th minute but the hosts couldn't take advantage, with Jack Grealish missing their best chance for a late winner when he failed to connect cleanly with a cross, sending his volley wide from seven yards out.
The game ebbed back and forth in the final minutes as West Ham threatened on a couple of quick counter-attacks but failed to create a clear-cut scoring chance.
Villa's clearest chance of the game came in first-half injury time when West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski made a one-handed save to deny John McGinn.
There was also an incident between Villa teammates Tyrone Mings and Anwar El Ghazi in the first half as they clashed inside their own penalty area. El Ghazi pushed his head into Mings but escaped punishment, and Villa manager Dean Smith downplayed the incident after the game.
"It was dealt with by the players in the dressing room and I'm happy for that to happen, that's the spirit in the dressing room," Smith said. "Things happen in team sport in the heat of the moment and it was sorted very quickly. At halftime they spoke about it, shook hands and we move on. What is disappointing is that we played just over 20 minutes against 10 men and couldn't take advantage of that."
The draw lifts West Ham into eighth place with eight points from five games, while Villa is 17th with four points.
