Knight shines on Boxing Day

Zat Knight fired home a last-gasp leveller as Aston Villa hit back from 2-0 down to snatch a point against Arsenal.

Villa hit back to snatch late point against Arsenal

Zat Knight fired home a last-gasp leveller as Aston Villa hit back from 2-0 down to snatch a point against Arsenal. The Gunners looked on course to perform a smash-and-grab raid as they weathered an early storm from the home side before taking the lead just before the break through Denilson and then doubling their advantage thanks to Abou Diaby. Martin O'Neill's side were left dumbfounded having hit the woodwork three times in the opening half through Steve Sidwell, James Milner and Curtis Davies while Bacary Sagna produced a brilliant acrobatic clearance off his own line. They reduced the deficit with 25 minutes remaining as Gareth Barry rammed home a penalty after William Gallas felled Gabriel Agbonlahor before O'Neill and Arsene Wenger were involved in a heated confrontation on the touchline with referee Lee Mason forced to intervene to calm the situation down. With the 90 minutes up the ball dropped to Knight, who had pushed up into the Arsenal box, with the centre-back controlling the ball before lashing a left-foot shot beyond Manuel Almunia. With captain Martin Laursen missing Gareth Barry was made skipper for Villa. Wenger was without captain Cesc Fabregas through injury and striker Emmanuel Adebayor due to suspension. His injury problems worsened when Johan Djourou had to be replaced at late notice by Kolo Toure, having seemingly suffered a problem in the warm-up.

Woodwork

Villa started well and nearly secured a sixth-minute lead when Sidwell ran intelligently to send a header from Gareth Barry's corner crashing against the woodwork. At the other end Knight was forced to make a decisive intervention with a sublime last-ditch tackle to deny Robin van Persie following Diaby's pass. After 14 minutes England striker Agbonlahor won a free-kick to the right of the penalty area and, though Milner's shot was blocked after the set-piece was taken short, Luke Young's subsequent effort from distance had to be tipped over spectacularly by stand-in captain Almunia. Villa again spurned a brilliant chance in the 20th minute. Agbonlahor produced a burst of pace to go beyond Gallas but saw his bending effort saved by Almunia and, as Sidwell ghosted in to convert the rebound, Gallas recovered to deflect his shot wide. Almunia made another sublime save in the 34th minute when Milner beat the advancing Arsenal defence to slide in and connect with Luke Young's cross from deep, only for the Spaniard to get down quickly and smother the ball as it came off the post. Toure was next in the book for fouling Agbonlahor. And from the resulting free-kick Davies found himself in space and sent a brilliant shot goalwards only to see it hit the bar.

Crucial

Barry then saved Villa as he made a crucial tackle inside the box but somehow Arsenal hit them with a sucker punch in the 39th minute. Denilson collected the ball near the halfway line and burst forward. When his pass to Eboue broke loose inside the box, the Brazilian kept sprinting forward and reached it first to fire home an unlikely opener. Wenger then sent youngster Aaron Ramsey on for fellow midfielder Alex Song shortly before the break while Villa again came agonisingly close. Nigel Reo-Coker's launched ball forward was met by Agbonlahor and with Almunia beaten, it needed Sagna's acrobatic clearance to keep their lead intact. Somehow it was 2-0 barely three minutes into the second half as Diaby combined superbly with Eboue before rifling home past Brad Friedel after a lung-bursting run. In the 55th minute Diaby forced his way into the area again and though his path was blocked, Van Persie collected the ball - only to sidefoot against the upright. Arsenal were clearly buoyed by their good fortune and began to play with authority. Ramsey, celebrating his 18th birthday, was settling into the match with maturity.

Clumsy

But Villa got a lifeline in the 65th minute when Mason awarded a penalty. Milner released Agbonlahor down the right with a simple ball and when Gallas made a clumsy challenge, the England striker went down. Stand-in captain Barry stepped up to send Almunia the wrong way. On the touchline, meanwhile, O'Neill and Wenger exchanged angry words and were spoken to by Mason. The game was becoming scrappy as Villa looked to claw themselves level. Their hopes of an equaliser looked slim but were boosted by the awarding of four minutes of added time and their prayers were soon answered. Barry attempted to control a cross into the box and when the ball landed in the path of stand-in defender Knight, the centre-half smashed home a late equaliser.

Aston Villa	Team Statistics	Arsenal
2	Goals	2
0	1st Half Goals	1
6	Shots on Target	3
4	Shots off Target	3
7	Blocked Shots	3
7	Corners	6
11	Fouls	10
3	Offsides	0
4	Yellow Cards	4
0	Red Cards	0
67.9	Passing Success	68.6
39	Tackles	30
71.8	Tackles Success	86.7
45.6	Possession	54.4
53.6	Territorial Advantage	46.4