Bournemouth 2-2 Aston Villa

Ollie Watkins headed home a late leveller as Aston Villa won a hard-fought point on the road against Bournemouth.

The striker glanced a near post effort beyond Neto moments before the game ticked into stoppage time to salvage a draw for the visitors.

Antoine Semenyo had put the Cherries ahead with a close-range finish after ten minutes before the visitors struck back for the first time.

Leon Bailey cut in from the right and buried a powerful left-foot shot, with Diego Carlos seeing a goal ruled out following a VAR check shortly after.

Dominic Solanke, who was twice denied by superb saves from Emi Martinez, gave the home side the lead again after 52 minutes, turning a shot home from inside the box.

And after substitute Jhon Duran struck the post, Watkins stepped up to score his 13^th goal of the season.

Unai Emery made three changes from last weekend’s 2-1 success against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, bringing Youri Tielemans in for the suspended Boubacar Kamara in midfield, while Bailey and Nicolo Zaniolo supported Ollie Watkins up front.

And the Villans made a strong start on the south coast, calling Neto into action after five minutes when Douglas Luiz chipped the ball over Lewis Cook and unleashed a low drive that was turned around the post.

But the hosts, buoyed by three wins in four games, took the lead when a misplaced pass from Carlos was intercepted by Ryan Christie, who fed Semenyo and watched on as the winger beat Emi Martinez with a placed finish.

The Cherries duo linked up again soon after as the home side looked to double their advantage, but Martinez saved Semenyo’s drive with his knees.

Villa mounted a strong response and levelled the scores via Bailey, who picked the ball up on the right and travelled into the box before cutting inside on his left foot and drilling a shot into the bottom corner.

The visitors looked to have struck again just two minutes later when Carlos turned home from a free-kick, but a lengthy VAR check revealed Lucas Digne had been offside before heading the ball across for the Brazilian.

A frenetic match was swinging from end to end, and only a sublime save from Martinez denied Solanke when the striker seemed destined to score from three yards out.

Eight minutes of stoppage time were played as the action continued, with Ezri Konsa making a goal-saving slide tackle before a close-range shot from Luiz was saved by Neto.

Jacob Ramsey was introduced at half-time in place of Zaniolo as Villa looked to take charge of the game, but they found themselves 2-1 down after 52 minutes.

Milos Kerkez powered forward from left-back and passed the ball into the feet of Solanke, who rolled Pau Torres and slotted a shot into the bottom corner.

Just after the hour mark, the away side were grateful to Martinez once again as he made another terrific point-blank save from Solanke after Marcus Tavernier bombarded down the right and sent in a low cross.

Duran was brought on to partner Watkins, and the Colombian came within inches of making a telling impact when his shot deflected off a defender and struck the post.

And just when it looked like an equaliser would prove elusive, Watkins glanced a cross into the far corner beyond the despairing Neto to earn a point.