West Ham United have eased to a 2-0 victory over 10-man Aston Villa thanks to second-half efforts from Michail Antonio and Cheikhou Kouyate.

Villa had Jordan Ayew sent off after 17 minutes for a blatant elbow on Aaron Cresswell, and the result sees the West Midlands outfit remain 10 points from safety in the Premier League table.

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West Ham could have been ahead after just two minutes, but Dimitri Payet's cross towards the near post was diverted wide by Enner Valencia.

It was a reprieve that boosted Villa and they controlled the remainder of the opening 15 minutes, but they were soon reduced to 10 men after a moment of madness from Ayew, who inexplicably elbowed Cresswell in the face as his side prepared to take a throw-in.

His dismissal saw West Ham dominate the action until the break, but they could not find the goal that their play deserved, with Kouyate having a shot saved by Mark Bunn and Valencia failing to convert from three yards.

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James Tomkins also volleyed over the crossbar from inside the penalty area before Valencia forced a save out of Bunn from a 35-yard free kick.

The West Ham onslaught continued after the restart as Noble saw a volley saved by Bunn before the Villa stopper tipped a Payet free kick onto the post, but after initially being frustrated by the visitors, the Hammers finally broke the deadlock on 58 minutes.

Noble, one of West Ham's most impressive performers on the night, launched a 50-yard pass towards Antonio, who directed a header in off the far post from around 15 yards out, with Bunn unable to get across to tip the ball wide.

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The pressure from Slaven Bilic's side was relentless but they could not find another way past Bunn, who denied Cresswell after the left-back had arrowed a right-footed effort towards the far corner.

The home side finally made sure of the points with five minutes remaining when Valencia headed a rapid counter-attack before playing the ball through to the onrushing Kouyate, who bided his time before firing a shot into the roof of the net from 14 yards.

The win sees West Ham retain sixth position in the standings, but they now sit five points clear of seventh place.