West Ham 1-1 Aston Villa: Not another VAR farce! Officials take over FIVE MINUTES to rule out stoppage-time hosts’ ‘winner’ after Nicolo Zaniolo and Michail Antonio goals

You would forgive David Moyes for feeling a little bit sick of the handball law.

Two goals ruled out against Aston Villa, two penalties not given against Burnley and Freiburg last week.

It took over five minutes, the longest VAR check in Premier League history, for officials to decide whether the ball had hit Tomas Soucek’s arm before it bounced off Jarrod Bowen and into the net for what looked to be a late West Ham winner.

Players from both teams and referee Jarred Gillett were left waiting on the pitch as VAR official Tony Harrington looked at multiple angles of the incident. Gillett was then sent to review the footage on the pitch-side monitor. No goal was his decision, eventually.

It had taken nearly as long for VAR to disallow Michail Antonio’s goal earlier in the second half, also for handball.

You would forgive West Ham boss David Moyes for feeling a little bit sick of the handball law

Nicolo Zaniolo swept the ball home after 79 minutes to rescue a point for Aston Villa

Moyes marched onto the pitch at full-time to confront the officials but said he won’t speak to PGMOL chief Howard Webb. 

‘They have not gone for us, there is not an awful lot we can do,’ Moyes said.

‘Burnley last week, Freiburg last week, two today. Every one of them has gone against us on handball situations so it’s hard to take.

‘It’s what VAR do, it’s their decision not ours, we can’t do anything about it.’

A game that had been a tale of two European hangovers, Aston Villa in the first half, West Ham in the second, somehow stretched to as long as 103 minutes.

Antonio’s diving header, his first goal since August, had given West Ham a deserved lead at the break. But Villa seemed to find a cure for their tiredness in the second half as substitute Nicolo Zaniolo scored an important equaliser 11 minutes from time.

‘We changed tactics in the second half and we got chances to score a goal,’ Villa boss Emery said. ‘The second half, we deserve it more than the first half.’

Defeat for Villa here after their 4-0 thrashing by Tottenham last week would have put a dent in their top four hopes, even if West Ham had done them a favour in midweek by putting English clubs on course for a fifth Champions League place.

Two performance places are up for grabs due to the new format, with these determined by the two countries with the best average performances in all European competitions this term.

England had been in third place, behind Italy and Germany, before the Hammers’ win moved them up to second.

Michail Antonio deservedly put the hosts ahead with a diving header before the half hour mark

It was the striker’s first goal since August in what has been an injury-plagued season for him 

Antonio thought he had scored his and West Ham’s second after half-time before VAR intervened

It also means that if the FA Cup winners finish in the top seven, the eighth-place team will take the Europa Conference League spot.

Villa were fourth coming into the game and had been boosted by Spurs’ 3-0 defeat at Fulham a day earlier. But it seemed to do little to spring them into life in the opening stages.

Neither team could really get a foothold in the first 20 minutes but West Ham began to get on top midway through the first half. Soucek’s attempt to divert Lucas Paqueta’s shot past Emi Martinez nearly paid off but bounced just wide. Martinez then made a fine save to keep out Vladimir Coufal’s deflected strike.

But there was nothing Martinez could do about Antonio’s goal on the half hour mark. Coufal found space on the right and whipped in a delightful cross between Villa’s centre backs. Antonio threw himself forward, connecting with power and guiding the ball into the bottom right corner.

Mohammed Kudus had the ball in the net before half-time after firing in from a corner, but the referee’s whistle had already blown for a foul on Martinez.

That was the first of many decisions that would go against Moyes’ side. The second came when Antonio thought he’d scored his second just after half-time. Bowen’s corner was headed on by Soucek and hit Antonio before bouncing into the net. It was difficult to see on replays, but VAR ruled that the ball had hit Antonio’s hand and the goal was disallowed.

From there, Villa improved. Youri Tielemans forced Alphonse Areola into a routine save from long-range but the goalkeeper made a better stop to deny Ezri Konsa from inside the box.

Aston Villa escaped after two West Ham goals were ruled out for handball by the officials

Moyes confronted the officials at full-time but will not speak to PGMOL chief Howard Webb

Villa had been steadily building pressure and the home crowd probably sensed an equaliser was coming. It arrived in the 79th minute when Moussa Diaby drove down the right and sent in a cross which was met by Zaniolo, who sent the ball through Areola’s legs and into the net.

The momentum should have been with Villa but it was West Ham who came closest to finding a winner. A breakaway saw Kudus tee up James Ward-Prowse, but his shot was superbly blocked by Matty Cash.

It looked as if the Hammers had got that late winner when a combination of Bowen and Soucek managed to force the ball over the line after Konstantinos Mavropanos had sent a header goalwards. Villa immediately appealed for handball and five minutes later referee Gillett came to the conclusion they were right.