West Ham player ratings - 'Pitch-perfect' 9/10 but 'negligent' 6 as VAR decides Aston Villa draw

The spoils were shared as West Ham welcomed Aston Villa to the London Stadium in a 1-1 draw with VAR sure to steal the headlines once again.

It was West Ham who seized the initiative in the first half with both sides looking leggy from their European exploits in midweek. The visitors struggled to knit together spells of possessions with a number of loose passes picked up by the Hammers midfield going unpunished.

Jarrod Bowen whipped in a couple of dangerous corners, which almost drifted under Emi Martinez's bar without a single touch and Mohammed Kudus blasted wide in a snatched chance teed up by Michail Antonio. Antonio himself perhaps could have been better positioned to slot home a Bowen cross too, which eventually worked its way out to Vladimir Coufal, who leathered a shot into the Villa goalkeeper.

Antonio was in the right place at the right time shortly after as he flung his body at a brilliant Coufal cross from out wide, making contact with a diving header and sending the ball past a sprawling Martinez to put the London outfit 1-0 to the good.

Bowen's corner kicks caused immediate problems after the break too as one swung into the back of the net via the deftest of touches from an Antonio arm. The striker wheeled away to celebrate his second of the day before VAR intervened to chalk off the goal.

The Villains managed to get a foothold in the game after that scare, working Alphonse Areola a number of times as the Hammers camped in their half and waited for chances to break. The hosts soaked up the pressure until the 78th minute when Nicolo Zaniolo tapped in a Moussa Diaby cutback with aplomb. Tempers flared after the leveller as players came together and quality dropped.

The match hit fever pitch as a combination of Tomas Soucek, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Bowen appeared to bundle a ball into the back of the next after a James Ward-Prowse free-kick. An infuriatingly long VAR check followed as referee Jarred Gillett was sent to the monitor to inevitability chalk off the Hammers winner.

Here's how the West Ham players rated on Sunday afternoon.