A second-half header from Emerson earned West Ham United a deserved 1-1 draw with Aston Villa, as Graham Potter's team produced an encouraging display at Villa Park.

The wing-back stole round the back to nod Edson Alvarez's cross home after 70 minutes as Villa's midweek UEFA Champions League exploits appeared to take their toll.

An excellent Jacob Ramsey goal had given the hosts the lead after eight minutes before they lost defender Tyrone Mings to a worrying knee injury.

But Villa appeared to run out of steam and were put on the back foot by the Hammers in the second half, with Danny Ings and Lucas Paqueta both going close to a winner.

The draw sees West Ham move 11 points clear of the bottom three, while Villa remain eighth, four points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.

How the match unfolded

Unai Emery's hosts swarmed all over West Ham in the early stages, taking the lead after just eight minutes.

A superb one-two between Ramsey and Ollie Watkins saw the former run through on goal and finish neatly with his left foot for his first Premier League strike since September 2023.

Morgan Rogers also had the ball in the net two minutes later, but Watkins was flagged offside in the build-up.

The first half ended on a sombre note for the hosts, though, as Mings hobbled off looking distraught after taking a knock to his left knee in a collision with Mohammed Kudus.

West Ham equalised with a well-worked effort 20 minutes from time, though, as Alvarez's cross was headed in by the unmarked Emerson at the back post.

Substitute Ings then went close to earning all three points with a fizzing effort as West Ham ended the stronger of the two sides.

Ramsey back in business

It has been so long since Ramsey broke into Villa's first team that it is easily forgotten he is still 23 years old and very much the club's future, as well as its present.

He sent out a reminder of his exciting talent by opening the scoring early on at Villa Park, brilliantly latching on to Watkins' return pass before powering into the box to score.

This was the attacking midfielder's 12^th start of the season in all competitions as he battles to remain fit for a decent period of time, but it is clear his previous injury struggles have not slowed him down.

While Emery will be delighted that Ramsey is fit and firing, there will be real concern about Mings.

The defender was missing from August 2023 to October 2024 after sustaining a serious knee injury and could not continue here after being on the receiving end of a firm – but fair – Kudus challenge.

Mings attempted to play on before hanging his head as he hobbled off the field and his side flagged without him, Lucas Digne coming on to fill in at centre-back after Emery was forced into a reshuffle.

Encouragement for Potter

Potter set West Ham up with a back three but the starting XI he named was a reminder of the gaps in his squad.

In defence, Max Kilman was the visitors' only natural centre-back, sitting between two recognised full-backs in Vladimir Coufal and Aaron Cresswell.

And Potter is still operating without a natural centre-forward, too, with Jarrod Bowen, Crysencio Summerville, Michail Antonio and Niclas Fullkrug all injured, but West Ham's performance defied those issues.

Fortunately, one of their defenders had his sights set accurately, Emerson appearing at the far post to nod in, and only one team looked like winning from then on.

Still, while Potter will be encouraged by this display, reported interest in Villa substitute Jhon Duran makes sense.

The striker cannot nail down a regular place in Villa's side and would add an obvious threat having scored seven Premier League goals this season.

Club reports

Aston Villa report | West Ham report

Match officials

Referee: Peter Bankes. Assistants: Eddie Smart, Nick Greenhalgh. Fourth official: Ruebyn Ricardo. VAR: Paul Tierney. Assistant VAR: Tim Wood.