Lambert something to smile about

felt Villa ‘looked a threat’ but in truth they were largely blunt, as they have been for much of the season. A return of five goals from 11 games is dire.

The harsh suspension picked up by Christian Benteke against Tottenham last week didn’t help, and the lack of accuracy early on by his replacement, Gabriel Agbonlahor, made matters worse.

To the striker’s credit, he created the 12th-minute opening that should have put Villa in front. But having sped past James Collins to go clear, his shot was hopelessly high. Who knows how significant those moments could be in the course of a season?

From there it was often an unrewarded West Ham blitz. Collins almost atoned for his flat-footed defending with a header that Guzan did well to save.

And Sakho then headed wide from an Aaron Cresswell cross. Stewart Downing, meanwhile, followed his England call-up with another impressive performance. Set-pieces, runs from deep, long passes and fine crosses — at 30 he is having a fine late-career revival.

He forced a save from Guzan after 24 minutes and moments later retreated deep into his own half to thread a 50-yard pass through a crowd and into Cresswell’s path. He closed the half with a poor shot, but that was the only blot on a day when the quality of his deliveries was sublime.

Allardyce said: ‘I think people forget how exciting it is to see crossing and heading.’

And Villa? Andreas Weimann shot straight at Adrian from a good position, but the sad truth is that their nearest miss came when Winston Reid overhit a backpass and Adrian’s touch let the ball run close to the line.

Villa looked tighter at the back in the initial stages of the second half but were battered in the final 15 minutes.

Somehow Guzan was able to make the saves that kept them from conceding.

Sakho’s 78th-minute miss was the worst. Carlton Cole’s delivery was perfect but Sakho’s free header wasn’t even on target. Sakho missed a second header soon after and Jenkinson’s attempt went straight to Guzan.

With that, Carroll was sent on in stoppage time. He is often maligned but his gifts are obvious. Twice he beat a swarm of markers to meet Downing crosses. Twice Guzan denied him.

Carroll needs a run of games; Villa will simply be pleased to have ended their run of defeats.