Unai Emery outlines what annoyed him most about Aston Villa's draw with West Ham
Aston Villa news from BirminghamLive as Unai Emery reacts to his side's draw with West Ham at the London Stadium
by John Townley, https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/authors/john-townley/ · Birmingham LiveUnai Emery was frustrated with Aston Villa's performance in the first half of their draw with West Ham, but is content with the point his side picked up at the London Stadium this afternoon.
Villa dominated possession, but struggled to progress the ball and threaten the Hammers before falling behind to Michail Antonio's goal in the 29th minute. The striker headed home from close range after connecting with Vladimir Coufal's cross.
Nicolo Zaniolo salvaged a point for Villa in the 79th minute, but the drama didn't stop until the final moments of the game. West Ham thought they found a winner in the 95th minute, but after VAR asked referee Jarred Gillet to check the monitor, he ruled the goal out as the ball came off Tomas Soucek's arm before going in off Bowen.
READ | John Townley's Aston Villa player ratings after dramatic 1-1 draw with West Ham
READ | Emi Buendia injury update as Aston Villa ace takes huge step forward in recovery
"We didn't control the game in the first half," Emery admitted after full-time. "We were not progressing to impose our position. When they are connecting with their attacking players, they scored one goal.
"We changed tactics in the second half and we got chances to score a goal and in the end we did score. The second half, we deserve it more than the first half. The referee decided it was handball.
"We had a plan before the match and the plan can change. The players had to be ready and focussed in case we needed them like today. Zaniolo is working and he is focussed.
"In this Premier League level it is difficult because the set piece takers are good. It is important to not concede set pieces.
"Overall, I think tactically in the second half we dominated and imposed our position. It's better to win but we draw and I think it's good and we have to accept it."
Join our new Aston Villa WhatsApp community
BirminghamLive has launched its very own WhatsApp community to give you the opportunity to receive the latest Aston Villa news straight to your messages.
We will be sending the latest breaking news and top Villa stories directly to the WhatsApp community and we want you to be part of it. Users who want to join our community must have WhatsApp downloaded on their phone.
All you have to do to join is click on this link, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you joined the previous WhatsApp Community, make to sure to sign-up to our new one as they previous page experienced a technical error.
If for some reason you decide you no longer want to be in our community, you can leave by clicking on the name at the top of your screen and clicking 'Exit Group'.
You can read our Privacy Notice here.