West Ham United defeated Aston Villa 2-0 at Upton Park on Tuesday night.
Jordan Ayew was sent off in the 17th minute for an ill-disciplined elbow on Hammers full-back Aaron Cresswell following a bright start from Villa.
That advantage in personnel prompted the Hammers to step up and they finally broke down Villa's defensive efforts through Michail Antonio in the 58th minute.
The winger met a cross from Mark Noble and headed home into the bottom corner for his third goal since late December.
Slaven Bilic's side sealed the win five minutes from time through Cheikhou Kouyate who raced onto a lovely ball from Enner Valencia to fire beyond Mark Bunn.
The win sees West Ham move up to sixth on the table, six point off fourth-placed Arsenal, as Remi Garde's Villa remained bottom of the table following their 15th defeat of the season.
MATCH OVERVIEW
West Ham United: 2 (Michail Antonio 58', Cheikhou Kouyate 85')
Aston Villa: 0 (red card: Jordan Ayew 17')
Upton Park, London - 34,914
TALKING POINTS
- West Ham still fighting for a top four finish and have a variety of players chipping in with the goals. Can they produce the results required to heap pressure on the top sides?
- The writing is on the wall for Villa. A red card like that from Ayew suggests the players are just playing out the season without any hope. The Championship beckons.
WHAT'S NEXT?
West Ham head to seventh-placed Southampton on Saturday as Villa prepare for the visit of 17th-placed Norwich.
TWITTER INSIGHT
This win,3points & clean sheet are for you little Enzo
Esta victoria,3puntos y porteria a cero son para ti pic.twitter.com/Hh6JilTlTD
— Adrián San Miguel (@AdriSanMiguel) February 2, 2016
Come on you IRONS! @whufc_official#WHUFC#COYIpic.twitter.com/gxxaqMDi0s
— Michail Antonio (@Michailantonio) February 2, 2016
QUOTES CORNER
West Ham's Bilic on the magnitude of the win:
"It's a massive win for us. I have nothing but praise for my players, and I have to congratulate Villa's players for fighting and not giving up.
"We played really good. We are becoming a serious team."
Villa boss Garde on what he said to Ayew about his red card:
"It will remain private, between him and me, what I said to Jordan. To speak shortly after the game is not always the best solution.
"I'm not going to speak any more (about) the incident, it's a major one in the game but I don't have to explain my feelings, and you can guess Jordan's feelings. Whatever happens in the dressing room is private."
STATS SPECIALS
*Thanks to Opta
57 - Dimitri Payet has created 57 chances for West Ham in the PL this season, more than twice as many as any other Hammers player. Fulcrum.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 2, 2016
9 - There have been a PL-high 9 red cards in West Ham games this season (four for them, five for the opposition). Bubbly.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 2, 2016
