First-half headers from Kenwyne Jones and Darren Bent saw Aston Villa and Stoke draw to edge closer to safety.
Bent equalises Jones header to earn point at Villa Park
First-half headers from Kenwyne Jones and Darren Bent saw Aston Villa and Stoke draw to edge closer to Premier League safety.
The Potters took the lead on 20 minutes when Jones headed home from six yards from a Rory Delap throw-in.
But the hosts were back level two minutes before the break when Bent's glancing header from a Kyle Walker cross went in off the post.
The result leaves Villa in 11th place on 41 points, while Stoke are in 14th, five points above the drop zone.
Striker Bent repaid another slice of the faith shown in him by absent manager Gerard Houllier, who is recovering from chest pains in hospital.
The French tactician paid Sunderland an initial £18million for Bent in January and the hot-shot scored his seventh goal in 12 games for Villa to earn a point.
Villa have now taken eight points from the last four games to virtually ensure another season of top-flight football.
But FA Cup finalists Stoke would have been happy with a share of the spoils after losing their seven previous away games.
More dangerous
The Potters looked the more dangerous side in the first half and Villa were indebted to another fine display from keeper Brad Friedel.
The home side dominated the second period territorially but seldom looked like breaching the Stoke rearguard.
Stoke were first to settle and twice came close to taking the lead.
A long throw from Delap was flicked back by Jones to Robert Huth, whose fierce shot on the half-volley from the edge of the box was tipped over the bar by Friedel.
Then Friedel produced a superb reflex save to keep out Jones' powerful header from a Matthew Etherington corner.
The Villa fans were becoming frustrated at the length of time Delap was taking over his long throws but it was from one of them that Jones broke the deadlock after 20 minutes.
The Stoke striker climbed above the Villa defence to deflect his header past Friedel into the corner of the net.
It was 31 minutes before Villa created a semblance of a chance but Emile Heskey could not keep his header down from Walker's right-wing centre.
It was largely against the run of play that Bent brought Villa back on level terms with another display of his knack in front of goal.
Walker supplied the cross from the right and Bent's glancing header from 16 yards out beat the dive of Asmir Begovic, via the post, after he had got in front of Ryan Shawcross.
Momentum
Villa tried to build up some momentum at the start of the second half but Stewart Downing was crowded out on the edge of the Stoke box.
Richard Dunne had the chance to test Begovic after the Stoke defence backed off but he tried instead to find Heskey with a deft pass and the opportunity went begging.
Marc Wilson became the first player to be yellow-carded after 56 minutes for a touch-line challenge on Downing.
Glenn Whelan followed him into referee Chris Foy's notebook eight minutes later before Begovic was relieved to see a deflected shot from Downing fly wide after he had been wrong-footed.
Heskey then slid in at the near post to make contact with a low Nigel Reo-Coker centre but his effort went wide.
Stoke substitute Ricardo Fuller had the ball in the net from a Jones flick-on but had strayed marginally offside.
The Potters tried to wind down the clock in the closing stages and Begovic was booked for time-wasting.
The visitors then ended the game with 10 men after using their three subs when Fuller was stretchered off with what looked like an Achilles injury.
| Aston Villa |
Team Statistics |
Stoke City |
| 1 |
Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 2 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 4 |
Shots off Target |
2 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 7 |
Corners |
8 |
| 9 |
Fouls |
11 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
4 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 74.9 |
Passing Success |
64.2 |
| 22 |
Tackles |
14 |
| 68.2 |
Tackles Success |
57.1 |
| 59.3 |
Possession |
40.7 |
| 53.6 |
Territorial Advantage |
46.4 |
|
