Gareth Barry returned to Villa Park for the first since his move to Manchester City in the summer whilst Richard Dunne lined up against his former team mates after signing for Martin O’Neill’s side on the final day of the transfer window.
And it was the Irish defender who had an immediate impact on the opening stages of the game when he rose above Barry to head Villa into the lead.
The home side looked comfortable as City struggled to find a way past their solid defending, but they were cut open with 20 minutes remaining when Stephen Ireland slid the ball through to Emmanuel Adebayor who picked out Bellamy to equalise.
Gabriel Agbonlahor almost opened the scoring in the opening minutes as he flicked Ashley Young’s corner towards goal, forcing Shay Given to save with his feet, before Stiliyan Petrov struck a shot just wide from 30-yards.
And it was from Villa’s second corner of the night that they took the lead with Dunne outmuscling Barry to head into the far corner.
City had plenty of the possession after going behind but failed to test Brad Friedel. Stephen Warnock prevented Barry from shooting with a sliding challenge and after Adebayor had brilliantly controlled a long pass, Carlos Tevez shot wide from the Togo striker’s lay-off.
Adebayor finally found the target with four minutes to half-time with a header from Barry’s free kick from the right. Brad Friedel was equal to it though and was able to push the ball over his bar.
Barry floated a cross in from the left after the break, but Adebayor couldn’t meet the ball at the back post and Milner came close for Villa soon after when he sent a low drive skimming past Shay Given’s right-hand post.
Dunne came close to claiming his second goal of night when he out-jumped Barry again, but he could only head wide from Milner’s corner.
City slowly began to turn the tide of Villa pressure though and drew level with 20 minutes to go. Ireland – who had replaced Nigel de Jong earlier in the second-half – poked a pass into the Villa penalty area for Adebayor who pulled the ball back for Bellamy who smashed a shot into the roof of the net.
Martin O’Neill’s side came straight back at City as they looked to regain the lead with Milner heading over Ashley Young’s cross and Ireland making a crucial block to divert Steve Sidwell’s shot.
Neither team could carve out a match winning opportunity as the game became scrappy in the closing stages and were forced to settle for a draw.
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