He mustered a few unconvincing efforts, although he did a lot of running and fought a physical battle with Zouma and Dawson.
John McGinn and Emiliano Buendia combined down Villa's right, with the Argentine turning Fornals inside out with a brilliant spin into the area before squaring for Watkins to steer through Fabianski's attempted save.
However, substitute Yarmolenko was on hand to give West Ham the lead after some good work inside the box.