West Brom 2-2 Aston Villa: Villans throw away two-goal lead in thrilling derby

Aston Villa surrendered a two-goal lead against rivals West Brom, who performed a superb comeback to draw 2-2, in an action-packed West Midlands derby at The Hawthorns.

Villa rise out of the bottom-three with the point, but Paul Lambert will surely be frustrated by his side’s lack of concentration at the back and in front of goal after squandering a number of good chances to win the game.

Belgian striker Christian Benteke put the Villains in the lead after just 12 minutes, blasting a powerful strike past Ben Foster, and Gabriel Agbonlahor gave the visitors the perfect start with a fantastic team goal.

But Villa folded after the break, leaving Baggies captain Chris Brunt free to hammer home after a crafty lay-off from Romelu Lukaku, and forward Peter Odemwingie completed the inspired comeback with an improvised acrobatic finish after Gareth Mcauley’s header from a corner was parried by Brad Guzan.

The American stopper kept the Claret and Blues in the game with some fine saves in a man-of-the-match winning performance, but Villa failed to convert a series of good late chances to upset the home support, who all rose to thier feet as thier side also pushed for a late winner.

The draw means Villa move to a point above the drop-zone, while West Brom rise to eighth, three points outside the top five.