ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Aston Villa 2 Arsenal 2: ASTON VILLA snatched a draw at Villa Park last night, with Zat Knight's last-minute equaliser denying Arsenal a much-needed away win to revive their Premier League title challenge.

Defeat can be as perplexing as it is depressing. But so, too, can a draw. After an extended period in which Arsenal might have been subjected to a drubbing, Aston Villa fell 2-0 down and could not recover entirely.

The visitors now overtake them in the Premier League on goal difference. But Arsene Wenger's men will not recall the afternoon for that reason.

The true fillip is to morale. With several good players missing, they somehow rallied. Arsenal had outlandish luck at times, but do not expect the manager to dwell on that. He will emphasise the persistence of the line-up in a campaign that will make grave demands of everyone.

Villa are learning all the time and here they discovered how treacherous the upper slopes of the Premier League can be. They had a commanding opening in which they hit the woodwork on three occasions, but the opener came for the visitors.

It was not even created by a chic counter-attack that might have been regarded as a classic Arsenal ploy.

Instead, Denilson dispossessed a casual Nigel Reo-Coker in the 40th minute to gather the ball and force a shot past Brad Friedel.

Shortly before that, Villa had hit the bar with a volley from Curtis Davies following a set-piece. At that stage, he and his team might have thought that resistance and ill-fortune were the worst that could befall them.

It would have been absurdly premature to assume these clubs had swapped places to any lasting extent, but attitudes had definitely changed. Arsenal came purely to defend, at least for a while. The overlapping left back Gael Clichy was, for instance, on the bench, with his place filled by the more conservative and experienced Mikael Silvestre.

Wenger may have felt ill-starred in advance of the game. As if it were not sufficiently miserable to lose Cesc Fabregas for months to come, there was a new injury here when Johan Djourou strained a calf muscle in the warm-up. Alexandre Song, too, picked up a knock that meant Aaron Ramsey, on his 18th birthday, took over.

Kolo Toure came into the line-up in place of Djourou, and this was not such a bad time for an injection of experience.

Villa were dominant and sharp. They, too, had noteworthy absentees in the centre halves Martin Laursen and Carlos Cuellar. It could have been a while before anyone noticed they were missing.

With six minutes gone, Steve Sidwell headed against the bar from a Gareth Barry corner. Eleven minutes from-half-time, a James Milner volley bounced off a post.

There had been an array of saves, too, from Manuel Almunia.

The most spectacular intervention, though, came from Bacary Sagna when his overhead kick cleared a Gabriel Agbonlahor header.

The visitors must have been as giddy with relief as they were exultant. Martin O'Neill would have attempted to tell his team at the interval that they were merely a goal behind, but the fillip experienced by Arsenal was worth more than that. The lead was doubled, with an exquisite move, in the 49th minute.

Abou Diaby escaped Davies and released Emmanuel Eboue, before taking a return pass to glide a finish into the far corner of the net. It was a piece of exquisite football and Villa were left downcast.

"Two shots, we've only had two shots," sang the Arsenal fans.

After 55 minutes, Robin van Persie fired against a post.

Villa were soon to rally, but in contentious fashion. William Gallas may have been foolish to attempt a tackle on Agbonalhor at the edge of the area, but his right foot did make contact with the ball even if the attacker was brought down in the process. Referee Lee Mason awarded a penalty. Gareth Barry converted it firmly.

In Laursen's absence, the midfielder was allowed to wear the captain's armband for the first time since a summer in which he wanted to leave for Liverpool. Responsibility had returned on a demanding day.

A clearly frustrated Arsene Wenger claimed his Arsenal side remain in the title race.

Wenger did not appear in the mood for small talk in a post-match interview.

But asked if the latest dropped points marked the end of their title challenge, Wenger said: "No, we keep going."

He also dismissed questions about an apparent bust-up with Martin O'Neill on the touchline, eventually settled by the referee.

"Nothing happened," he said.

• Guardian Service