Sharjah 24 – AFP: Aston Villa escaped with a 1-1 draw at West Ham on Sunday after the hosts were denied a stoppage-time winner by a prolonged VAR check.

Nicolo Zaniolo had equalised for Villa after Michail Antonio headed West Ham into a first-half lead.

Fourth-placed Villa are now three points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham in the race to qualify for next season's Champions League via a top-four finish.

West Ham made a strong start and Lucas Paqueta had a shot deflected wide by Soucek from Jarrod Bowen's cutback, before Vladimir Coufal's drive was blocked by Emiliano Martinez.

The breakthrough came after 29 minutes when Coufal swung in another cross and the diving Antonio got in front of Ezri Konsa to nod in his first goal since August.