Villa held by valiant Wigan
Gabriel Agbonlahor had a header cleared off the line
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Saturday, 31, Jan 2009 08:56
Aston Villa have missed the chance to go second in the table after a 0-0 draw with Wigan Athletic at Villa Park.
The home side dominated possession with Zat Knight hitting the post while John Carew and Gabriel Agbonlahor having efforts cleared off the line.
The draw keeps Villa five points clear of Arsenal in the battle for the fourth Champions League spot.
Buoyed by their form in 2009, Villa exploded out of the blocks with Emile Heskey coming close to connecting with Gareth Barry's free-kick while Gabby Agbonlahor's header was hacked off the line.
Against the run of play, the Latics came close to snatching a goal with Maynor Figueroa's header tipped over by Brad Friedel.
The second-half followed the same pattern with the Latics continuing to ride their luck. A goalmouth scramble led to Knight's glancing header hitting the post with no-one on hand to tab in the rebound.
Martin O'Neill then brought on Carew, for his first appearance since October, to join a three-man attack.
The Norway striker came agonisingly close to making an instant impact when his shot was cleared off the line by Paul Scharner with the Wigan midfielder also blocking Luke Young's follow-up.
And Steve Bruce's men held on to secure a deserved point against their high-flying opponents.