Late agony for Watkins as West Ham beats Villa 2-1 in EPL

LONDON (AP) — Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins missed a penalty then had a stoppage-time equalizer ruled out by VAR for the narrowest of offside calls as West Ham held on for a 2-1 win to move into fifth place in the English Premier League on Monday.

Watkins thought he made amends for his 74th-minute failure from the spot — his effort struck the crossbar and bounced over — when he side-footed home a finish from a left-wing cross at the start of five minutes of additional time.

The video assistant referee spent around three minutes deliberating whether Watkins' outstretched arm made him offside and finally reached the decision, much to the striker's disgust.

West Ham's goals came right at the start of each half, with Angelo Ogbonna heading home a corner inside the first two minutes and Jarrod Bowen flicking in a header within a minute into the second half.

Jack Grealish scored a deflected shot between those goals for Villa, which could have moved into the top four with a win.

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