Speaking to West Ham TV following the game Allardyce also praised the referee for spotting the deflection on West Ham’s goal.
“It was a pretty low-key start due to two things - Villa were just intent on keeping the ball and not really going anywhere with it and the weather. It was so hot that it made it difficult to continue the sort of pressure that you would do if it was a much cooler day.
“We had to be patient and then we built our way into the game and grew into the game, if you like, and once we started we finding a quality of pass then we started putting pressure on Aston Villa from corners, free-kicks and final-third entries.”
“In the end, they cracked and the referee made a huge decision for us - which was the right decision - by not allowing the goal to be scrubbed out for offside. The ball came off the Villa defender and not a West Ham player. The linesman had flagged and the referee ignored that flag and gave the goal, which was the right decision.
“We got better as the second half went on and started getting more of the ball and started probing Aston Villa and we created some good opportunities. Coley should have had a penalty after half-time, Kevin Nolan had a shot inside the box and then cool-hand Maiga rounded the goalkeeper with ease and we all thought he would put it into the net for 2-0 but up popped the Villa defender to block it which was a great shame.
“It’s a great day for us and a great result and one that we fully deserved.”