Villa hold Arsenal to a draw

Aston Villa 0 Arsenal 0

Arsenal were left clinging on for a hard-earned Premiership point after a battling performance from Aston Villa.

Villa had been guilty of showing too much respect to Manchester United during their recent visit to Villa Park but they looked pumped up from the start against Arsene Wenger’s side.

O’Leary had complained strongly about the demanding festive schedule and had only 15 fit senior players with rookie Craig Gardner named on the substitutes’ bench.

But Villa overcame their tired limbs and the Gunners were not allowed to settle into their stride from the first whistle by a performance full of passion, pride and a high tempo.

The silky skills which had seen Arsenal destroy Portsmouth on Wednesday were not given a chance to flourish and the home side left the ground to a standing ovation.

Gavin McCann typified the non-stop approach of Villa and must have covered every blade of grass and a Villa defence, in which Aaron Hughes and Mark Delaney were outstanding, kept the chances of Thierry Henry and company to a minimum.

Milan Baros caused problems for the Arsenal rearguard although he was guilty of a glaring second-half miss which could have tipped the scales in his side’s favour.

Baros signalled his intentions with a pacey run towards the Gunners goal before being brought down by Sol Campbell but James Milner curled his free-kick well wide.

Lauren was somewhat fortunate when a cross struck at considerable pace by Aaron Hughes bounced off him straight into the hands of Jens Lehmann.

The Arsenal keeper than dealt comfortably enough with a first-time curling effort from Milner but there were encouraging signs for O’Leary’s side.

Baros was looking sharp and a powerful run and low cross ended with Kolo Toure having to react quickly at the near post and concede a corner as Luke Moore threatened to pounce.

Villa continued to press and an outswinging corner from Milner found Baros unmarked in the vicinity of the penalty spot but he failed to keep down his first-time effort.

Henry saw little of the ball in the first half but he nearly created an opener for Freddie Ljungberg who only just failed to make contact with a teasing cross.

Villa were in control and Delaney, who scored for the first time in six years against Everton on Boxing Day, found himself with a run at goal after Baros had slipped the ball into his path.

But Toure was able to get across and thwart the Welsh international on the edge of the box as he was preparing to pick out a run from Luke Moore.

Lehmann needed two attempts to keep out a swerving drive from Barry but it was Arsenal who had the best chance of the opening 45 minutes. Alexander Hleb played in Mathieu Flamini who had a clear run at goal but he blasted his shot over the bar.

Delaney became the first player to be yellow-carded early in the second half after a rash challenge on Hleb before Baros was guilty of squandering a golden chance to put Villa in front.

Moore robbed Campbell and Baros for once beat the offside trap and was completely clear of the Arsenal defence.

But the Czech international almost had too much time and he hesitated before eventually blazing his shot high and wide.

The game was now opening up and Ljungberg crashed a 25-yard drive against the woodwork while another Bakke volley flew across the face of goal.

Cygan was booked for a foul on McCann as Villa showed no signs of flagging in the final quarter of the game.

Substitute Juan Pablo Angel headed over and Toure prodded wide for the Gunners in the closing minutes.