John Carew kept Aston Villa in the hunt for a UEFA Cup spot with a late header in a dramatic 2-2 draw against Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday.
Norwegian striker Carew secured a hard-earned point with his 86th minute goal after Joseph Yobo looked to have won the game for Everton just a minute earlier.
On a rain-soaked pitch, both sides struggled to gain the upper hand in a dismal first half that generated more yellow cards — three — than goalscoring opportunities.
Everton’s Nigerian forward Ayegbeni Yakubu escaped Villa midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker on 19 minutes before unleashing a powerful strike at goal. Villa keeper Scott Carson could only palm the shot away, but Portuguese midfielder Manuel Fernandes scuffed his shot from the rebound.
Villa could hardly be described as wilting under the pressure and O’Neill’s men were comfortably containing Everton when they were given their first sight on goal on the half hour after referee Phil Dowd had awarded a free-kick following Phil Jagielka’s foul on Olof Mellberg.
Just 20 yards from goal, both Gareth Barry and Ashley Young lurked with intent at the set-piece and England winger Young rattled the crossbar with his powerfully struck effort.
Villa looked the stronger, fresher team, but Everton found an extra level in the second half as they chased the victory.
And the breakthrough came on 55 minutes when Phil Neville put Everton ahead with a deflected strike following good work by Yakubu down the left flank.
The former Middlesbrough man broke free after latching onto Leon Osman’s pass and his pull-back picked out Neville on the far edge of the penalty area. Neville was left with a difficult chance, but his powerful right foot shot beat Carson via a deflection off the chest of defender Martin Laursen.
With his team facing a six-point deficit on Everton with just two games to play, O’Neill went for broke by replacing defenders Wilfred Bouma and Zat Knight with forwards Marlon Harewood and Patrik Berger and the gamble paid off on 80 minutes when Gabriel Agbonlahor snatched an equalizer with a close range strike from Barry’s corner.
Everton regained the lead four minutes later, though, when the Villa defense lost concentration at the far post to allow Yobo to volley Lee Carsley’s cross into the net.
Goodison erupted, but the home fans were still celebrating when Carew netted Villa’s second equalizer less then sixty seconds later.
In Sunday’s other game, Portsmouth were defeated 1-0 at home by Blackburn Rovers when Roque Santa Cruz scored the only goal of the game in the 74th minute.
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