"But we showed great character and deserved what we got."Taylor's build-up to the game was not promising, with a flu virus costing him the services of Alpay Ozalan and Ronny Johnsen, while Dion Dublin, the leading scorer, was still suspended. Lee Hendrie had to be replaced midway through the first half yet, oddly, Villa's fortunes improved from that moment.At the corresponding game last season, anyone arriving late and leaving early missed all the excitement – Dublin scoring for the visitors in the first minute and Jermain Defoe equalising in the last. Any latecomers yesterday would have had time to settle before, in the eighth minute, Steve Lomas headed into the arms of a fortunate Enckelman via bar and post. Defoe, normally so reliable in a one-on-one, then pulled his shot wide when sent clear by Lomas's header, but all was forgiven in the 15th minute as Kanout? low cross reached Sinclair, whose sharp drive from 12 yards went through the goalkeeper's dive.Loss of discipline by Tomas Repka allowed Villa an undeserved equaliser nine minutes before the interval. Having blatantly body-checked Darius Vassell for a yellow card, Repka nudged Marcus Allback to concede a penalty, calmly tucked away by Vassell. It was only the visitors' second opportunity of the afternoon.Thomas Hitzlsperger provided the third as Villa improved, unleashing one of his fulminating drives that David James did well to push away. West Ham's nerves were being stretched, along with those of the crowd, and an extraordinary spell early in the second half might have put the game beyond them.Three times Villa were granted the freedom of the left wing, Lee Bowyer offering no protection to the promising right-back Glen Johnson.

First a run and cross by the impressive Gareth Barry laid on a goal for Oyvind Leonhardsen, who had been on the pitch barely a minute as replacement for the injured Mustapha Hadji. Vassell then dribbled down the same flank to set up Leonhardsen and JLloyd Samuel, neither of whom could keep their shot sufficiently low.Roeder's solution to the sudden crisis was to replace Bowyer, who could hardly complain, with Les Ferdinand as an extra attacker. An equaliser arrived almost immediately, Kanout?aking Joe Cole's astute pass and turning cleverly inside Steve Staunton before scoring from 10 yards.Apart from the occasional counter-attack, West Ham were on top from then until the finish and should have gone on to win. Enckelman, the fall guy in two high-profile derbies with Birmingham earlier in the season, denied them twice in 60 seconds with dazzling one-handed saves from Johnson and Kanout?A minute more and Ferdinand, on the penalty spot, hit Lomas's square pass carelessly high.Defoe was equally wasteful two minutes from the finish, then unlucky in stoppage time, wriggling through only to be foiled by Enckelman. How costly might that be? After Saturday we will have a better idea.West Ham United 2 Sinclair 15, Kanout?5Aston Villa 2 Vassell pen 36, Leonhardsen 53Half-time: 1-1 Attendance: 35,029.

When Philippe Albert was introduced to the crowd before kick-off at St James' Park yesterday it seemed like a good idea. It was, after all, the Belgian's chip over Peter Schmeichel that completed Newcastle's 5-0 thrashing of Manchester United on Tyneside in October 1996. If the plan was to give the visitors another psychological dig, four days after they were given the Champions' League runaround by Real Madrid, it all fell a bit flat. By half-time, when Albert re-appeared on the pitch to draw the winning ticket in the Geordie Jackpot, Newcastle were 4-1 down and on their way to a 6-2 hiding. They were as sparkling at St James' yesterday as they were despairingly dull in the Bernabeu on Tuesday. The result they gained took them three points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premiership, ahead of their trip to Highbury on Wednesday night. It also took their goal difference to within one score of the Gunners."Just one more goal and we would have been level with Arsenal," Sir Alex Ferguson said, lamenting a string of missed chances and the late concession of a goal to Shola Ameobi "I would have taken this score before the game, though It's a great confidence boost for Wednesday night There's no doubt about that It's the biggest game of the season now.