English FA Premiership/ West Ham 1 Aston Villa 1: One of Javier Mascherano's new team-mates at West Ham United told him this fixture was a local derby. As the Argentina midfielder watched from the bench he must have begun to think the comment was not really such a practical joke after all.
The match was played as if there was more at stake than points and Mascherano's presence contributed to that even if he never got on to the field.
He and his countryman Carlos Tévez, who was introduced for the last half-hour, turned this game into a high-profile occasion as soon as they agreed the exotic move to Upton Park.
Villa deserved to win, though all of Martin O'Neill's fundamental disadvantages were apparent in the obvious lack of depth to the squad. The problems were added to by the injuries to Aaron Hughes and Mark Delaney that compelled him to pick the centre-half Olof Mellberg at right-back, yet those factors merely highlighted the resolve on the rise at a club that kept hold of its unbeaten record this season.
Mellberg stifled Yossi Benayoun, on whom West Ham count for delicate creativity. It was Villa who threatened. Having lost the lead, they instantly snapped out of their defensive posture and twice had the Upton Park defence kicking the ball off their own goal-line. The first of those incidents showcased the talents of Stilian Petrov, whom O'Neill brought from his old club Celtic for £6.5 million.
Petrov was composed as he lobbed the ball over the West Ham goalkeeper Roy Carroll in the 54th minute and it took good scrambling for Tyrone Mears to keep the ball out of the net. Two minutes later, Carroll beat away a drive from the dynamic Gareth Barry and when Gabriel Agbonlahor met the rebound it was Anton Ferdinand's turn to pull off a frantic clearance.
Petrov was the more impressive of the game's two debutants by a great margin, but no apologies are required from Tévez. It would have been hard under any conditions for a substitute to find his place perfectly in furious action of this nature. In addition, he has not had a competitive match for three weeks.
As it was, the fans will have been satisfied with the hints of his future contribution. He moved well, dropping back to attack from deep, and had one excellent run. Tévez could have taken those spectators' minds off the disturbing displays from a few other West Ham players.
The defence and the goalkeeper, for instance, were seized by confusion whenever Barry crossed. It was the left-back's deep corner in the fourth minute that brought Villa the lead as Carroll's fine save from an Agbonlahor header left Liam Ridgewell to force the loose ball home.
The period that ensued belonged to a team utterly content with its tactics, as Gavin McCann held sway immediately in front of the back four, reducing West Ham to angst and frustration. For the Upton Park fans, the situation was at its most galling when their side could not capitalise on a laughably favourable incident.
The goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen was so uncomfortable with a Barry pass-back that he knocked the ball straight to Marlon Harewood. An odd impulse to be subtle then overcame the striker and he aimed for the smaller space to the goalkeeper's left, missing the target entirely.
With Juan Pablo Angel heading one Barry cross on to the bar and putting another just over before half-time, West Ham might have rued Harewood's poor showing to a greater extent than they did. Even so, he played his part in the brief spell of pressure that delivered the equaliser, with a pass that led to Nigel Reo-Coker crossing from the right in the 52nd minute.
Martin Laursen stopped Bobby Zamora from scoring, but the delay was brief. A corner resulted and when Lee Bowyer pulled it deep Paul Konchesky headed the ball into the goalmouth, where Zamora helped it into the net with his knee. Villa were never again to appear vulnerable and the substitute Milan Baros could have restored the lead within seconds of taking the field.
For all that, it counts as progress that Villa are exasperated not to have won at a ground where they were torn apart in a 4-0 loss last season.
- Guardian Service
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