Villa left it late but substitute Barry Bannan and striker Tobias Mikaelsson earned an unlikely maximum haul for Kevin MacDonald's side.

West Ham started brightly with a goal in the first minute - but Villa dominated the rest of the game.

Julien Faubert slotted past Stuart Taylor to give the Hammers the lead.

Marlon Harewood, Ciaran Clark and Dominik Hofbauer all missed good chances before Bannan scored with a cracking left footed drive with three minutes left. Mikaelsson tapped home in stoppage time to earn all three points for the table-toppers.

Faubert, West Ham's £6m summer signing, slotted past Stuart Taylor in the first minute to stun Villa.

Moustapha Salifou fizzed in a corner on 14 and Stephen O'Halloran met the centre but fired straight at Richard Wright.

Eric Lund put a ball into the box on 18 but Dominik Hofbauer's header was too weak and went straight at the West Ham keeper.

Harewood let fly with a 25 yard shot on 19 but, again, it flew straight at the former Everton man.

Ciaran Clark had a golden opportunity to score with a header a minute later but it was deflected for a corner.

Hofbauer saw a 20 yarder deflected for a corner on 30 and two minutes later, Harewood found himself one-on-one with Wright but just couldn't finish.

Lund floated in a wonderful ball from the right on 32 and Jonathan Hogg saw his powerful header hit the post and out of danger.

Chris Herd fired in a cracking cross on 35 and James Collins had to head it away under pressure from Tobias Mikaelsson.

West Ham made an immediate change on 46 when Zavon Hines replaced goalscorer Faubert.

Hogg had several half chances on 48 but the Hammers defenders did well to block all his efforts.

Wright nearly gifted Villa a goal on 56 when he dropped the ball at Harewood's feet but the giant striker couldn't finish.

Villa and West Ham made a substitution on 63, Delfouneso replacing Hofbauer and Freddie Sears coming on for Luis Boa Morte.

Harewood had a great chance to equalise on 71 but he fell awkwardly at the vital moment. He was replaced by  Bannan three minutes later.

The young Scot fired in a low shot on 78 that Wright did well to keep out. And it was Bannan who equalised with a quality left footed drive on 87.

Mikaelsson won it in stoppage time with the easiest of finishes after a great tackle from Chris Herd released Delfouneso to shoot. Wright could only parry to Tobias's feet and the giant Swedish striker made no mistake.

VILLA: Taylor; Lund, Earls, Clark, O'Halloran; Herd, Salifou, Hogg, Hofbauer (Delfouneso, 63); Harewood (Bannan, 74), Mikaelsson. Subs: Delfouneso, Bevan, Y Bellon, D Bellon, Bannan.

West Ham: Wright; Tomkins (Spence, 90), Widdowson, Davenport, Collins, Dailly, Faubert (Hines HT), Collinson, Jeffery, Boa Morte (Sears, 63), Reid. Subs: Hines, Stech, Fitzgerald, Sears, Spence, N'Gala.