NATHANIEL CLYNE'S late equaliser earned high-flying Southampton a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa last night, denying Paul Lambert a much-needed victory in his 100th match in charge of the Premier League strugglers.
England internationalist Clyne's rasping strike for second-placed Southampton after 81 minutes left 16th-placed Villa still searching for their first win since September 13.
Gabriel Agbonlahor benefited from Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster's rush of blood to the head to fire Villa ahead after 29 minutes, the stopper racing out of his box to clear, only for Agbonlahor to beat him to the ball.
The striker kept his composure to slot home Villa's sixth league goal of the season, the lowest in England's top four divisions.
"To get the early goal gave us a lot of confidence and you could see throughout we were on top. We were disappointed not to win but with where Southampton are in the league we'll take a point," said Agbonlahor. "It was good to see the fans turn out in such cold weather and we felt we needed to give them a performance.
"I thought that I could have done better with their goal, it was disappointing to concede so late on but they're flying in the league so we'll take a point and move on."
Southampton's decision-making was mostly poor, their final ball loose as Villa continued to deny them. Both goalkeepers remained untroubled, even when Fonte's cross flashed across the Villa box with Graziano Pelle lurking. Weimann then wasted a golden chance to make the game safe with 12 minutes left when he broke from Southampton's corner.
The Austrian found Agbonlahor and when he received the return pass, could only blaze over from 12 yards.
Southampton appeared out of sorts despite a confident opening but took home a point when Ryan Bertrand pulled the ball back for fellow full-back Clyne to smash home from 12 metres. Southampton, who had risen to second, are now six points behind leaders Chelsea.
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