West Ham United and Aston Villa go into half time goalless following a largely uneventful 45 minutes at Upton Park.
Villa threatened in the opening stages, coming close through both Christian Benteke and Andreas Weimann, but it was not all one-way traffic.
Stewart Downing came close for the hosts in the 13th minute, exchanging passes with Kevin Nolan before forcing a save from Brad Guzan in the Villans goal.
It was Guzan who kept the scores level seven minutes later when Matt Jarvis latched onto a through-ball from Nolan, the American pulling off an impressive stop from close range to keep the Hammers out.
West Ham came close again just after the half-hour mark, with Downing's cross from wide on the right headed inches wide by Jack Collison.
Written by
Mark Langshaw
Mark Langshaw
