Aston Villa 0 West Ham United 2 - match report and pictures
[gallery]Kevin Nolan's quickfire double condemned awful Villa to defeat and piled the relegation pressure back on Paul Lambert.
The Hammers skipper scored twice three minutes after the re-start to hand the visitors a priceless victory.
They moved out of the Premier League relegation zone and defeat left Villa four points above the bottom three.
It was their eighth home defeat in the league this season and Lambert's side were booed off despite a spirited attempt to recover.
Marc Albrighton and Christian Benteke hit the woodwork but the hosts rarely looked like salvaging the game.
Matt Lowton and Gabby Agbonlahor returned for Ron Vlaar and Grant Holt while ex-Villa loanee Carlton Cole started in the absence of the suspended Andy Carroll.
Even without the England striker the Hammers' dead ball threat was evident and James Tomkins headed wide early on while Stewart Downing fired over from distance.
It was a low key start though with Villa unable to create an opening until Agbonlahor wasted a fine ball from Andi Weimann.
The teams cancelled each other out before Downing blew a fine chance on 23 minutes after his missed his kick in front of goal from Matt Jarvis' low cross.
Ryan Bertrand clattered into the post as he tried to thwart the winger but recovered after the nasty collision.
The opening sparked the Hammers into life as Jarvis twice left Matt Lowton trailing only to be first denied by Ciaran Clark and then shoot wide under pressure from Nathan Baker.
The Hammers dangerously exploited the space behind Villa's high defence while the hosts lacked the cohesion to threaten their hosts.
Fabian Delph drilled wide from distance but the visitors were on top and asserted their control with two goals in three minutes after the re-start.
The first came just 18 seconds after the Hammers kicked off as Downing skinned Bertrand and crossed for Nolan to flick in from six yards.
Two minutes later the captain robbed Delph on the edge of the box and calmly rolled past Guzan with Villa shellshocked.
Albrighton was thrown on for Lowton and almost teed up Benteke on 56 minutes but the striker missed his teasing cross.
The winger had made an instant impact and almost pulled a goal back when his 30-yard strike smacked the post and ricocheted off Adrian for a corner.
Albrighton then crossed for Benteke to glance against the top of the bar with 20 minutes left.
Villa ramped up the pressed – thanks to Albrighton – and his free kick was almost turned into his own net by Guy Demel.
The substitute had singled handily given Villa a foothold in the game but they almost fell 3-0 down with eight minutes left when Bacuna blocked Matt Taylor's goalbound shot.
