West Ham United's Andriy Yarmolenko celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Aston Villa at London Stadium on March 13, 2022 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images)
Ukrainian midfielder Andriy Yarmolenko scored West Ham's first goal as the Londoners beat Aston Villa to close in on top four.
The 32-year-old shed tears as he celebrated his goal which came at a time when Russia is continuing its military operation in his country.
Yarmolenko started the game on the bench but came on for Michail Antonio in the 52nd minute, and got on the score sheet 18 minutes later.
West Ham went on to win the game 2-1 to climb above Arsenal in the standings albeit temporarily.
The Hammers have now collected 48 points from 29 games, just two points off Manchester United in fourth place.
Sunday marked the 18th day since Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine.
Nearly 2.6 million people have since fled Ukraine to other countries, according to the latest UN data.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 1,300 Ukrainian troops have died since the Russian military operation began.