Aston Villa and West Ham United did themselves no favours in the battle for a
UEFA Cup spot as they fought out an uninspiring, goalless draw at Villa Park.
The fifth and sixth-placed teams in the Premiership had already suffered a
massive blow in midweek with the news that they would have to overtake Leeds in
fourth spot to qualify for Europe.
One point did neither of them much good in the already-tall order to overhaul
David O'Leary's side who are still seven points ahead of West Ham and nine in
front of Villa - and with a match in hand.
And to make matters wore for the Hammers, they lost England defender Rio
Ferdinand after eight minutes with damaged ankle ligaments which must make him
doubtful for the international in Hungary on April 28.
Villa had only themselves to blame for not putting an end to their dreadful
sequence of results after dominating territorially for lengthy periods.
The confidence slowly but surely began to creep back into their play, and over
the 90 minutes, they had the better of the few clear-cut chances on a night of
precious little goalmouth action.
Striker Dion Dublin had his most effective game for several weeks despite the
continued handicap of a hernia problem.
He used the ball intelligently and was a threat in the air, while Lady Luck
was against him and Villa when his first-half header hit the post.
The other major plus for Villa was achieving a rare clean sheet after
conceding 17 goals in their previous eight games with Colin Calderwood quietly
effective on his debut.
West Ham showed they are no longer the soft touch they were once thought to be
on their travels as they took their points tally to 14 from the last seven games
to stay in fifth place ahead of Villa.
Steve Potts was effective at the back after being forced into the action as
Ferdinand's replacement. But they showed little in the way of attacking threat
in a game which served up poor entertainment for the Bank Holiday crowd.
Ferdinand was stretchered off after a late tackle from Mark Draper who was
deservedly booked.
Villa dominated the opening 45 minutes territorially, and Steve Lomas cleared
a half-hit shot from Gareth Southgate following an Alan Thompson corner.
But the first save of any note did not occur until the 23rd minute when
Hammers 'keeper Shaka Hislop held onto a curling effort from Dublin away to his
left.
West Ham defender Marc-Vivien Foe got in a crucial block on an Ian Taylor shot
after he had latched onto a through-ball from Steve Watson.
Villa finally started to show some confidence, and in the 40th minute, the
woodwork denied Dublin his first goal in open play of 1999.
A fiercely-driven cross from Watson picked out the former Coventry player
whose header beat Hislop all ends up but rebounded off a post to safety.
West Ham made hardly any impression as an attacking force in the opening 45
minutes, and although Paolo di Canio had the ball in the net in injury time, he
was clearly offside.
The visitors showed more purpose at the start of the second half, and Draper
brought down Lomas in a dangerous position on the edge of the area, but Frank
Lampard's free-kick was deflected straight at Mark Bosnich.
The Hammers forced their first corner after 57 minutes when a Lampard shot was
deflected wide, while at the other end, Hislop clung onto a glancing Dublin
header from a Watson cross.
The best move of the game to date came in the 66th minute when Lampard and
Paul Kitson combined to free di Canio, but he placed his shot wide of the far
post as Bosnich came out to challenge.
Then at the other end, Julian Joachim squandered a great chance to break the
deadlock after a chip from Dublin had found him unmarked.
The former Leicester City striker was favourite to score but dragged his low
shot inches wide. Taylor then shot wide from the edge of the area, while in the
last minute, Bosnich saved a low effort from Kitson.
Teams:
Aston Villa: Bosnich, Watson, Calderwood, Southgate, Wright,
Stone, Draper, Taylor, Thompson (Merson 86), Dublin, Joachim.
Subs Not Used: Barry, Scimeca, Samuel, Oakes.
Booked: Draper.
West Ham: Hislop, Pearce, Ferdinand (Potts 8), Ruddock, Minto,
Lampard, Lomas, Foe, Sinclair, Kitson, Di Canio.
Subs Not Used: Keller, Moncur, Berkovic, Forrest.
Booked: Sinclair.
Att: 36,813
Ref: G Willard (Worthing).
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