That's it. Villa put up a decent fight after Jordan Ayew's dismissal but West Ham upped the tempo in the second half and eased to victory.

Another sign that Villa are doomed as they stay 10 points from safety. West Ham stay sixth.

Image source, Reuters

The 'Lerner Out' scarves are out from some of the Villa fans.

West ham just passing the ball around now as Villa look beaten. There'll be three minutes of added time.

There's no sign of a Villa comeback but West Ham might want another to kill off the game. You never know.

West Ham defender Aaron Cresswell brilliantly controls a long Dimitri Payet pass, cuts inside a defender before his shot a finger-tipped wide by keeper Mark Bunn. What a goal that would have been.

Will, Villa fan: Livid with Ayew. His stupidity and selfishness has cost us a game we were looking very positive in.

Hammers midfielder Mark Noble is yellow-carded for a late tackle before Villa boss Remi Garde brings on Kieran Richardson for Carles Gil.

Villa haven't had a shot since the 20th minute, while West Ham scored with their 15th effort of the game.

What do Villa do now? They need points but they've gone a goal down and have 10 men. Talk about problems.

West Ham playmaker Dimitri Payet curls an angled free-kick against the post as the Hammers go close again. 

A West am corner is played to Mark Noble on the edge of the box and he strikes a lovely volley but Villa keeper Mark Bunn parries the ball away. The breakthrough may not be too far away for the home side if it carries on like this.

Villa are now hanging on. James Collins puts a header across the Villa goalmouth where Micah Richards brilliantly hooks the ball clear from almost under his own crossbar.

Image source, AP

Cheikhou Kouyate glances a header to the far post for West Ham and Michail Antonio attempts a shot but puts it wide having been distracted by team-mate James Collins running in front of him.

Villa's players were having a chat just inside the tunnel before coming out for after the break. They were probably saying let's keep doing the same. West Ham have followed them out and manager Slaven Bilic will have told his players to sort their attacking game out as the second half gets under way... 

To give you an idea of how much Jordan Ayew's sending-off changed the pattern of the game, here's a look at how the match was going in the first 15 minutes...

Image source, .

And here's a look at the half-time mark...

Image source, .

Mark Lawrenson
Ex-Liverpool defender on BBC Radio 5 live

"I can only think Aaron Cresswell was in Jordan Ayew's face, what he did was just madness, especially when you think where Aston Villa are in the league as well. A red card was the last thing Remi Garde needed."

Jordan C: Granted we're terrible, but Aston Villa having three stonewall penalties turned down in the last three league games doesn't help.

Villa started brightly but Jordan Ayew's red card for them turned the game. West Ham took control but just could not break the stubborn visitors down.