Postpublished at 16:17 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
Image source, Getty ImagesVilla deal with the corner, which eventually comes back to Nene - the kick-taker - who cuts in from the right but bends a shot well over.
Summary
Aston Villa XI: Given; Bacuna, Vlaar, Okore, Richardson; Cleverley, Westwood, Delph; N'Zogbia, Grealish; Benteke.
West Ham XI: Adrian; Jenkinson, Collins, Burke, Cresswell; Noble, Kouyate; Downing, Nolan, Amalfitano; Valencia.
Postpublished at 16:17 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
Image source, Getty ImagesPostpublished at 16:16 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
West Ham centre-back James Collins almost heads an equaliser against his former club, getting his head to a corner by outjumping Ron Vlaar - but Shay Given flips the ball over. Another corner. There's a delay now as Enner Valencia receives treatment.
Postpublished at 16:11 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
Villa respond. Charles N'Zogbia turns past Aaron Cresswell, bursts in from the right and sends a shot into the side-netting.
Cresswell falls to the ground in agony. There is concern here that he might have twisted his ankle. He is able to get to his feet, but he's hobbling.
Postpublished at 16:08 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
Alex Song is a little too keen to put up a fight. The West Ham substitute gives Jack Grealish a shove to the floor, then indulges in some finger-wagging towards the Villa man. Song gets a talking to from Lee Mason, but nothing more.
Postpublished at 16:07 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
Image source, Getty ImagesBetter this, from West Ham. Nene collects possession 25 yards out, and unleashes a shot that flies over Shay Given's crossbar. The visitors, second best in the first half, are putting up a fight now.
Postpublished at 16:05 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
Join the debate at #bbcfootballpublished at 16:05 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
Paul Cate: Villa have gone from having one of the worst managers in the league to one of the best.
Postpublished at 16:05 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
West Ham striker Enner Valencia is immediately into the action at the start of the second half, tangling with Jores Okore and dropping to the ground inside the area. It's physical stuff, but it's fair, and referee Lee Mason rejects the muted Hammers penalty appeals.
DOUBLE SUBSTITUTIONpublished at 16:03 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
Hammers manager Sam Allardyce has made two changes at the break. Alex Song and Nene are on, and Morgan Amalfitano has gone off, as has Kevin Nolan - who was given an utter verbal kicking by BBC London analyst Steve Froggatt during the first half. I've only managed to bring you a brief flavour of it on here - it was damning.
KICK-OFFpublished at 16:01 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
The players are back with us, and the second half is under way.
HALF-TIMEpublished at 16:01 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
Former Aston Villa midfielder Steve Froggatt on BBC London: "The general consensus in the media room at half-time was that Villa should be 3-0 up. West Ham have been given a second chance really."
From the archivespublished at 15:59 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
Image source, Getty ImagesIn 2009, the two sides fought out an end-of-season 1-1 Premier League draw at Villa Park - in a game memorable chiefly for some curious interventions from referee Rob Styles.
Styles rulesd that West Ham's blue change strip clashed with both Villa's home and away colours. As a result, Villa's kit man had to scrabble around for a white training kit, which he dug out at such short notice that there was no time to put the players' names on the back of the shirts. (This was done in time for the second half, with another set of shirts.)
The referee then caused Villa further consternation by allowing Hammers centre-back James Collins to scoop the ball away with his hand unpunished as John Carew run through on goal. "The defender has moved in and he's almost caught it," said exasperated Villa boss Martin O'Neill afterwards.
From the archivespublished at 15:58 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
Image source, Getty ImagesWhile we wait for the players to return, let's take a look back at a couple of the more curious past encounters between the clubs.
In December 1999, the Hammers beat Villa on penalties in a League Cup quarter-final after a 2-2 draw - only to have to replay the game after it emerged that they had fielded an ineligible player.
Manny Omoyinmi (pictured playing in an FA Cup tie against Swansea the previous season) had come on as a substitute during the match, but shouldn't have figured at all, as he had played in an earlier round for Gillingham. West Ham lost the replayed game 1-3. Villa went out to eventual winners Leicester in the semi-finals.
Is the Europa League worth it?published at 15:56 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
Image source, .West Ham - with no bookings in that first half - are on course to win a place in next season's Europa League via the Uefa fair play standings - but will it be worth the bother?
Many label the competition as a hindrance to their Premier League aspirations, but is there any substance to these claims?
BBC Sport studied 10 seasons since the Europa League introduced group stages to find exactly what impact a campaign has on league performance.
As it standspublished at 15:55 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
Image source, .Around the groundspublished at 15:55 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
Ayoze Perez struck an equaliser just before half-time to give Newcastle a much-needed lift against West Brom. As it stands, Newcastle will be out of the bottom three this evening.
Leicester lead Southampton 2-0 at the break, while Hull's game against Burnley is goalless.
HALF-TIMEpublished at 15:51 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
Image source, OptaYes, Villa are good value for their half-time lead - as the possession stats suggest.
Get involvedpublished at 15:48 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
Shohidur Rahman: Cleverley has scored three games in a row. Tim Sherwood is undoubtedly a miracle worker.
HALF-TIMEpublished at 15:47 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
Simon Brotherton
Match of the Day commentator at Villa Park"The game got a bit niggly in the latter stages of the first half, but on the balance of play, Aston Villa are worthy of a half-time lead."
YELLOW CARDpublished at 15:46 British Summer Time 9 May 2015
In fact, the game's first booking goes to Villa. Charles N'Zogbia stops Cheikhou Kouyate's run from midfield with a tug of the shirt and referee Lee Mason steps in.