Aston Villa will play Premier League football next season after a draw at West Ham was enough to ensure they escaped relegation on the final day of the campaign. ​Hometown hero and captain Jack Grealish looked to have sealed a win for Villa with a powerful strike in the 84th minute, but Andriy Yarmolenko's deflected leveller soon after made it a nervy finale for the visitors. They hung on though and the point, coupled with a defeat for Watford at Arsenal, ensured Villa's survival and consigned the Hornets to the Championship next season along with Bournemouth, whose win at Everton was not enough. It caps an impressive end to the season for Dean Smith's side, who were seven points from safety two weeks ago but then put together their first four-game unbeaten run of 2019-20 to survive. It was a game of few chances at the London Stadium, although the in-form Michail Antonio would have made Villa's afternoon a lot more tense had he not blazed a shot wide with just the keeper to beat in the first half. West Ham secured their own Premier League place for 2020-21 with a draw at Manchester United on Wednesday and end the season in 16th. Grealish is Villa's talisman to the end Possessing only a goal difference advantage of one over Watford, Villa came into this tense final day with all possibilities on the table - even the prospect that they might lose and stay up, or win and go down. That this situation even existed in the first place is a feather in the cap of Smith's side, who fought hard despite seemingly looking doomed to the drop. A long way from safety and on a three-game losing streak heading into their game against Crystal Palace on 12 July, they beat the Eagles, drew at Everton and then recorded a win over Arsenal to edge ahead of the faltering Hornets. This final point sealed a second-successive season in the top-flight and to some extent justified the lavish spending they undertook last summer. In the end, though, it was one of their own who stood head and shoulders above the rest to earn them the point they needed. Grealish was neat and energetic without being spectacular for much of the game but came alive when he was needed. Soon after dancing through the Hammers defence and seeing a shot deflected wide, he went one better, finding space on the edge of the box before firing in. That should have been the end of it, but West Ham provided one final scare for Villa at the end of what has been a dramatic, rollercoaster season. Inevitably, Villa will have to spend a portion of the upcoming truncated off-season dealing with rumours linking Grealish with a move away from the club. But at least they will now be able to negotiate from a relative position of strength as a top-flight club. Hammers earn their bit of luck Having already secured their place in the Premier League next season, there was a risk that West Ham's players might have played within themselves on Sunday. Villa boss Smith asserted beforehand that his opposite number David Moyes would not allow this from his players and he was proven right. The Hammers were not at the level that has seen them take seven points from their last three games, but they certainly weren't already on the beach. The biggest testament to this is the manner in which they rallied after conceding so late, when they could have been excused just allowing the clock to run down on a slim defeat. Their equaliser - coming just a minute or so after Villa's opener - owed plenty to fortune, with Yarmolenko's effort from range looping up off Grealish, over Pepe Reina and in. But it was a moment of luck to cap what has been an impressive last four games of a campaign that has lurched between crises but has set them up a stable off-season and a fresh start to 2020-21. Man of the match - Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) 'My dad will be looking down on us' Aston Villa boss Dean Smith: "When Jack scores you think 'That's it we're safe' but a deflection made it a little bit nervous, but we saw it out well. I'm immensely proud and I've said that in the dressing room. We now look like Premier League players. "My whole family are in the living room watching together. It's been emotional because I lost my father to coronavirus. I'm sure he'll be looking down on us." --- *The Guardian* *Sunday, 26 July 2020* The full-time whistle blew. One or two of the Aston Villa players let out a roar of celebration, only to be swiftly hushed by manager Dean Smith, warning them the job was still contingent on results elsewhere. For two agonising minutes, Villa’s entire playing squad and staff huddled together, awaiting news from the Emirates Stadium. Suddenly, the huddle exploded. Yes: when the smoke had finally cleared from the longest Premier League season of them all, it was Villa who were still standing. They have clung to the precipice with fraying fingernails and fraying nerves, with reserves of patience and grit perhaps even they were not quite sure they possessed. They looked doomed for much of the season. But they were not. Jack Grealish’s late goal, coupled with Watford’s 3-2 defeat at Arsenal, was ultimately good enough. Even an immediate and cruelly deflected West Ham equaliser did little but test their arteries. And this has ultimately been the key to Villa’s survival mission: a recognition not just of their strengths but of their weaknesses, and Smith’s success in remodelling a team that a month ago possessed the worst defence in the top division. Aware that his team lacked a reliable goalscorer, Smith used the lockdown months to rebuild his side from first principles, from a tight defence and the dominant midfield play of Douglas Luiz and the set-piece delivery of Conor Hourihane. He showed his team tapes of Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool and Simone Inzaghi’s Lazio in an attempt to explain how great defences function. Goals have been thin on the ground. But crucially, they have been scarce at both ends. Naturally, it was ugly as hell: football on the precipice, with the utmost caution and the minimum of risk. Villa sat tight and deep, as if trying to keep a precious secret. News of Watford’s first-half collapse seemed to strengthen their resolve, with the knowledge that a point would almost certainly be good enough. At one point, Mbwana Samatta picked up a cleared cross 35 yards from his own goal, looked up, and realised he was the furthest player forward. With West Ham also keen to play on the counter, there was little fluency and even less in the way of clear openings. Michail Antonio squandered a good early chance for West Ham; Samatta and Grealish did likewise in the first half. As the second half progressed and nerves began to tighten, Villa defended their goal with almost fanatical resolve: flying tackles, desperate blocks, grappling with every last ounce of strength. And yet when Grealish found himself with the ball 18 yards out, he still had the presence of mind to pick his spot and smash the ball cathartically, emphatically, into the net. In a way there was a certain romantic symmetry to it: the local player and boyhood Villa fan who had done so much to win Villa promotion in the first place, now scoring the goal that secured their Premier League status. It took less than two minutes, however, for the dark clouds to return. Andriy Yarmolenko cut in from the right, shot speculatively and as the ball looped up off the boot of Grealish, Pepe Reina realised to his horror that he could not back-pedal in time. Framed on the touchline against a backdrop of floating bubbles, Smith realised that there would be no relief just yet. But true to themselves, Villa played the denouement immaculately: seeking territory, clearing to the corners and using the backside of John McGinn to shield the ball if nothing else worked. Full-time brought only more tension, more awful waiting. And then, finally, release. Plenty of obstacles lie ahead. A total of 35 points is less a cause for celebration than an urgent warning sign. Smith needs to retool Villa’s entire attacking strategy. Recruitment in the summer will be a priority, especially if the talismanic Grealish is snapped up by a rival. But on a damp and jubilant afternoon in east London, as Villa’s players screamed in relief and embraced each other like brothers, none of that seemed to matter for now. ---