Credit: Imago

James Barker

Sun 22 March 2026 18:24, UK

Aston Villa beat West Ham 2-0 at Villa Park on Sunday, and referee Paul Tierney had a largely good game in the middle.

Unai Emery’s side took a significant step towards solidifying their place in the top four of the Champions League, with a fairly comfortable victory over relegation-threatened West Ham.

John McGinn’s wonderful left-footed effort got the scoring underway on 15 minutes, before Ollie Watkins made sure of the three points with a little under 20 minutes to play in the match.

Villa now go five points clear of Liverpool in fifth, and put their top four hopes firmly back in their hands as we now enter the international break.

Tierney took charge of Aston Villa’s win over West Ham on Sunday, and the experienced referee didn’t get much wrong on the day, but there was two decisions he didn’t quite get right.

Paul Tierney had to use VAR to amend Aston Villa penalty error

Tierney’s first big decision in Aston Villa’s clash with West Ham came 26 minutes into the match.

Hammers defender Konstantinos Mavropanos made a sliding challenge on Watkins inside the penalty area, and the Lancashire-based referee pointed to the spot.

However, replays clearly showed that Mavropanos actually got to the ball first, and made an excellent tackle inside the box on Watkins.

Tierney was then instructed by VAR to look at the incident on the pitchside monitor, and after a couple of replays, the referee told the Villa Park crowd that Mavropanos did indeed play the ball.

So, despite the fact he did come to the right decision in the end, he will be disappointed that he got the call wrong on-field, although the Hammers defender did come round Watkins to make the challenge, so it wasn’t a straightforward decision by any means.

Tierney should’ve booked Callum Wilson for simulation

The second decision here involves Tierney not making a decision when he should’ve done, and it involves West Ham striker Callum Wilson and Aston Villa midfielder Amadou Onana respectively.

With 15 minutes to play in the second half, Wilson went down inside the box after jostling with Onana as they both tried to get to the loose ball first.

The Sky Sports commentary team confirmed that the incident was briefly checked by VAR, and quite rightly, no penalty was the decision they arrived at.

However, the Hammers forward clearly went looking for the penalty by throwing himself to the floor in a pretty unconvincing manner when it was obvious he wasn’t winning that duel, therefore committing an act of simulation.

As such, Tierney should’ve booked the West Ham star for diving here, in what was one of those typical incidents inside the box that has supporters saying: ‘well if it’s not a penalty, it’s a dive then’.

Overall though, Tierney had a solid game in the middle at Villa Park, but without the help of VAR, would’ve made a massive blunder with the Watkins penalty decision.