Jermain Defoe rescued West Ham with an equaliser two minutes into stoppage time and spared the blushes of skipper Paolo di Canio, who was guilty of a shocking miss from the penalty spot.

Dion Dublin gave Villa a flying start when he headed home after just 51 seconds.

West Ham should have equalised from a 65th-minute spot kick after Defoe was tripped by Steve Staunton. But di Canio hit a weak penalty which was easily saved by Peter Enckelman.

It looked like being one of those nights as the Hammers wasted several good chances in the second half. But England Under-21 striker Defoe had the last word as he fired past Enckelman from 15 yards.

This was a game West Ham badly needed to win to give them an eight-point cushion from the relegation zone, especially as they face a tough December with games against Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool still to come.

But they got off to the worst possible start when they fell behind inside the first minute as Dion Dublin got goalside of Tomas Repka to head home from five yards.

It meant the first act by David James against his former club, following his £3.5million summer move, was to pick the ball out of the net.

This was only his third appearance in a West Ham shirt following a long lay-off with a knee injury, and the previous two had resulted in 1-0 defeats.

The Hammers looked a bundle of nerves at the back and after five minutes Steve Staunton almost scored direct from a right-wing corner, but the ball hit James on the chest at his near post and went out for another corner.

Villa attacked down the right again through Stone after 22 minutes and this time his cross ended with Dublin shooting tamely into the arms of James.

Dublin's aerial dominance was proving a key factor. After 34 minutes he nodded down a throw-in, but Lee Hendrie screwed his shot wide.

Dublin won a free-kick five yards outside the West Ham box after 36 minutes when his ball juggling was halted by Repka's hand.

Merson's shot was charged down by his former Arsenal team-mate Nigel Winterburn, who was booked for encroaching, and referee Mike Dean moved the free-kick forward to the edge of the area.

This time Merson's shot was deflected off the wall for a corner and Villa won two more successive flag kicks. The second of these saw Dublin send in another good header, but James somehow managed to claw the ball out from under his own crossbar to keep his side in the game.

It came as no surprise when West Ham were booed off at half-time.

West Ham looked brighter after the break - they could hardly have been much worse - and went close after 61 minutes when Trevor Sinclair crossed from the right, di Canio brought the ball down at the far post, and his shot was blocked for a corner.

Di Canio should have scored after 64 minutes, but was denied by Enckelman. Hutchison played him in, but with just the goalkeeper to beat from 12 yards he struck the ball against his outstretched leg.

It got worse for the Italian who was then guilty of that shocking miss from the spot, hitting a very weak shot which Enckelman had no trouble stopping as he dropped to his right.

Another good chance went begging after 69 minutes. Cole did well to shake off Boateng and release Sinclair just inside the box, but the England striker fired just wide.

After 77 minutes, Hutchison struck a free-kick against the wall to win a corner which ended in a scramble in the six-yard box before Enckelman saved at the feet of Christian Dailly.

Sinclair missed again after 80 minutes when he latched on to a bad back-pass from Olof Mellberg and slotted the ball wide.

Time appeared to have run out for West Ham and they were facing a backlash from the fans. But Defoe brought some much-needed relief when he popped up inside the right edge of the box and buried a low shot inside the far post.

Teams:

West Ham: James, Schemmel, Repka, Dailly, Winterburn, Sinclair, Hutchison, Carrick, Cole, Di Canio, Defoe.

Subs Not Used: Hislop, Minto, Courtois, Todorov, Potts.

Booked: Winterburn, Di Canio.

Goals: Defoe 90.

Aston Villa: Enckelman, Delaney (Samuel 52), Wright, Mellberg, Staunton, Barry, Boateng, Hendrie, Stone, Dublin, Merson (Vassell 68).

Subs Not Used: Myhill, Angel, Ginola.

Booked: Stone.

Goals: Dublin 1.

Att: 28,377

Ref: M Dean (The Wirral).