A 4-match unbeaten run to finish the season saw Villa keep their head above water as Bournemouth and Watford were relegated.
Jack Grealish took centre phase as Aston Villa left relegation by the skin of their teeth after a 1-1 draw at West Ham.
The Villa captain, whose future at his boyhood club remains unsure, developed the goal which need to have settled their nerves 6 minutes from completion.
Nevertheless, minutes later on Grealish deflected in Andriy Yarmolenko‘s shot to leave the visitors holding on by a thread once again, understanding another West Ham goal would send them down with competitors Bournemouth beating Everton.
Yet Villa, who were 7 points from safety heading into their game against Crystal Palace on July 12, hung on to finish their version of the great escape to keep up by a single point.
The 4-match unbeaten run Dean Smith‘s men handled to end the season with, consisting of wins over Crystal Palace and Arsenal, kept their heads above water while the Cherries and Watford joined Norwich through the trapdoor.
West Ham need to have offered reasonably certified opposition having actually ensured their own safety a number of matches ago.
Yet Villa hearts remained in their mouths after 12 minutes when Michail Antonio burst tidy through as he acquired Issa Diop’s long ball.
The forward had actually scored 8 goals in his previous 6 matches, however this time his completing deserted him as he scuffed his volley large.
The visitors got their first sight of goal when Mbwana Samatta increased to fulfill Frederic Guilbert‘s cross, however his header flew directly at Lukasz Fabianski.
Grealish needs to have put Villa ahead just prior to half- time when John McGinn‘s ball throughout the pitch was assisted on by Samatta to the left-hand side of the penalty area.
Grealish formed to curl the ball around Fabianski however might only clip his effort directly at the Polish goalkeeper.
The news that Bournemouth were winning should have been communicated to the Villa players at half- time, due to the fact that they emerged with far higher seriousness.
Samatta missed his start front of goal from Conor Hourihane’s cross and McGinn’s follow- up was hacked clear by Ben Johnson.
However Villa soon pulled back and West Ham might have had a penalty when Mark Noble was tripped by Matt Targett, prior to Sebastien Haller and Tomas Soucek were off target with headers.
Nevertheless, when John McGinn discovered Grealish left wing of the area, he handled to twitch far from 2 men and fire an effective shot past Fabianski.
When Yarmolenko’s long- variety shot looped in off Grealish, it all of a sudden looked like it may not be their day.
However 5 minutes of stoppage time were securely worked out and a point eventually showed enough, indicating the celebrations might start.
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