Champions Manchester City missed a chance to go top of the Premier League as Leon Bailey’s equaliser earned Aston Villa an excellent draw at Villa Park.
The league’s top goalscorer Erling Haaland got his 10th goal in six games when he was in the right place at the back post to volley in Kevin de Bruyne’s superb cross.
After scoring in the 50th minute, Haaland had another two efforts saved by Aston Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez and De Bruyne also hit the crossbar with a 22-yard free-kick.
Those missed chances proved costly as Bailey struck a sweet first-time shot into the top corner from Jacob Ramsey’s square pass to make it 1-1 in the 74th minute.
Aston Villa thought they had scored a winner when Philippe Coutinho put the ball in the net off the underside of the bar but the assistant referee had already put his flag up for offside.
City would have moved above Arsenal, who play at Manchester United on Sunday, with a win, but instead are second, one point behind the Gunners.
Gerrard’s Aston Villa show fighting spirit to earn draw
Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa had only won one of their first five matches of the season and had been booed off after their last game at Villa Park, a 1-0 loss to West Ham.
The pressure was mounting on the former England midfielder after a 2-1 loss at Arsenal in midweek left Villa 19th in the table, but this point was enough to take them out of the relegation zone and to 17th.
But Gerrard, who called for his side to “surprise the footballing world”, will be delighted with the spirit and fight his team showed to come back from a goal down as City, champions four times in the past five years, looked to claim their fifth win of the season.
City had 73% possession but Bailey scored with Villa’s only shot on target in a result that Gerrard will hope will kick-start their campaign.
Meanwhile Pep Guardiola will see this as two points dropped for City and will wonder how his team did not claim the win.
The visitors should have gone ahead in only the fourth minute but England defender Kyle Walker shot wastefully wide with only Martinez to beat.
Haaland, a £51m summer signing from Borussia Dortmund, had scored back-to-back hat-tricks in City’s wins over Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest and only touched the ball 10 times in the first half.
However, he showed his class within five minutes of the restart by scoring from close range after De Bruyne’s cross had looped over Martinez.
Haaland became a handful for the home defence and twice was denied by Martinez and also won a free-kick, which De Bruyne hit the bar with.
Villa’s equaliser came against the run of play but City still had chances to win it late on but Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden both missed opportunities as Villa held on for the draw.
