Nicolo Zaniolo came off the bench to earn Aston Villa a point as they came from behind to draw 1-1 at West Ham United.

Michail Antonio gave the Hammers a first-half lead, heading in to score for the first time since August, but Zaniolo poked in to level with 11 minutes remaining.

West Ham had the ball in the back of the net deep into stoppage time, but Tomas Soucek's effort was overturned following a VAR review for handball. 

A point moves Villa three clear of Tottenham Hotspur in fifth, with West Ham, who extended their unbeaten home run against Villa to nine matches, remaining in seventh.

How the match unfolded

West Ham made two changes from the side that beat Freiburg 5-0 in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, with Alphonse Areola replacing Lukasz Fabianski in goal, while and Emerson Palmieri came in for Aaron Cresswell.

Unai Emery opted to make four changes from the midweek 4-0 UEFA Europa Conference victory over Ajax. 

Jhon Duran, Youri Tielemans, Ezri Konsa and Clement Lenglet replaced Matty Cash, Diego Carlos, Moussa Diaby and the suspended John McGinn. Ollie Watkins was fit to start after recovering from a cut to his knee that forced him off on Thursday night.

After an evenly contested start, the first clear chance fell to Watkins, but his low effort was pushed around a post by Areola.

West Ham took the lead just before the half-hour with Antonio's superb diving header from Vladimir Coufal's cross.

Coufal has now provided an assist in each of his last five league matches at London Stadium. 

The Hammers continued to look dangerous and Mohammed Kudus twice came close to doubling their advantage, first firing a shot narrowly wide, West Ham’s ninth of the half, before having a goal ruled out due to a foul in the build-up.

Antonio thought he had doubled West Ham's lead on 49 minutes but, but his effort overturned following a VAR review after he was adjudged to have handled the ball.

Villa stepped up the pressure in search of an equaliser and Areola was forced to keep out a trademark long-range shot from Tielemans.

At the other end, Emiliano Martinez was called into action as he dived to prevent Lucas Paqueta's deflected free-kick from creeping in.

Zaniolo brought Villa level, finishing first time from close range after Diaby had got the better of Emerson and cut the ball back to the Italian.

Both of Zaniolo’s Premier League goals for Villa this season have been second-half equalisers after coming off the bench.

West Ham almost snatched a late winner, but substitute James Ward-Prowse’s strike in the second minute of stoppage time was superbly blocked by Cash.

There was still time for a dramatic finale, as Ward-Prowse’s free-kick was poked towards goal by Konstantinos Mavropanos before being bundled in on the goalline by Soucek.

But after being checked by VAR, referee Jarred Gillett was sent to the Referee Review Area and ruled out the goal, deeming it to have been handled by Soucek.

Club reports

West Ham report | Aston Villa report

Match officials

Referee: Jarred Gillett. Assistants: Darren Cann, Akil Howson. Fourth official: Sam Allison. VAR: Tony Harrington. Assistant VAR: Nick Greenhalgh.