Argentina striker Carlos Tevez came off the bench for his West Ham debut as his new club fought back to earn a point against Aston Villa at Upton Park. Liam Ridgewell's fourth-minute strike had earned Villa the lead and the Hammers were fortunate not to be further behind at half-time after two Juan Pablo Angel headers hit the crossbar.

Bobby Zamora deflected Paul Konchesky's header past Thomas Sorensen for his fifth goal of the season.

Pardew could have dropped Hayden Mullins and Zamora to make way for the newcomers but he wanted to send a message that both remain an integral part of West Ham.

The moment all West Ham supporters had been waiting for arrived after an hour when Tevez replaced Marlon Harewood.

There were immediate flashes of what West Ham and the Premiership can expect this season. At one stage Tevez left Martin Laursen for dead inside the Villa box.

He could not conjure up the winner - but after the way West Ham started, they will surely be grateful for a point.

They struggled to contain Villa at the back, especially in the air, and fell behind after just four minutes.

Roy Carroll produced a superb save after Gabriel Agbonlahor rose to meet Gareth Barry's inswinging corner - but Ridgewell reacted quickest to pounce on the loose ball and put Villa ahead.

West Ham responded positively, Yossi Benayoun feeding a clever pass through to Zamora in the box, though the angle was too tight for a decent shot.

Sorensen then presented Harewood with a golden opportunity after scuffing a clearance straight to the Hammers striker.

But Harewood, who scored a hat-trick in his fixture last season, could not dig the ball out from under his feet and stabbed his effort just wide of the post.

West Ham remained unconvincing at the back and were lucky to escape when Angel rose unchallenged to crash his header against the bar from another dangerous Barry corner.

Luke Moore easily got the better of Tyrone Mears and the home side once again struggled to clear a corner as the ball bounced around the box six-yard box.

West Ham had little width and, despite some nice interplay between Zamora, Benayoun and Lee Bowyer, lacked a cutting edge.

Villa, on the other hand, continued to cause problems to the home defence. When Barry curled in a deep cross, Angel beat Danny Gabbidon to win a magnificent header which just skimmed the top of Carroll's bar.

Nigel Reo-Coker tried to stamp his authority on proceedings with a typically barn-storming run from the halfway line but his 20-yard shot was a yard wide of Sorensen's right post.

Immediately after half-time, Harewood got round the outside of Barry and lashed a shot into the side-netting.

It was a statement of intent from West Ham and within minutes they had drawn level.

Bowyer's corner picked out Konchesky on the edge of the box and his powerful header bounced deflected in off Zamora's thigh.

The game had come alive. Stiliyan Petrov lobbed Carroll but Mears cleared his lines with a flying overheard clearance.

Barely a minute later, Anton Ferdinand hacked the ball off his own line after Carroll had produced another top-class save, this time to deny Barry's swerving strike.

With the momentum on West Ham's side, Pardew replaced Harewood with Tevez.

He was followed by Matthew Etherington and Carlton Cole but they could not create a winner.

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