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By David Ornstein
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 Petrov scored his first league goal of the season but Stoke had the last word
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Glenn Whelan scored a dramatic 90th minute equaliser as Stoke frustrated Aston Villa in their bid to cement the fourth Champions League position.
Villa took the lead just before half-time through Stiliyan Petrov's strike.
It appeared the game was settled when John Carew doubled the lead with a spectacular first-time finish.
But with three minutes remaining James Beattie crossed for Ryan Shawcross to head in and, at the death, Whelan's fierce drive earned Stoke a point.
Villa move six points clear of fifth-place Arsenal but a win would have extended their advantage over the Gunners to eight. Victory would also have put them just two points behind Liverpool in third.
Martin O'Neill's men have now won only two of their last nine home games and they are winless in five matches in all competitions.
Stoke's late comeback sees them move level on points with fourth-from-bottom Blackburn, goal difference being all that currently separates them from safety.
Manager Tony Pulis will be delighted with the spirit shown by his players, who are still without an away will all season but proved in the second half that they are capable of posing a serious threat going forward.
That said, their 5-4-1 formation encouraged Villa to flood forward in the opening stages and, were it not for some heroic defending, Villa could have claimed a resounding triumph.
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606: DEBATE
FARRELLAVFC
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O'Neill made eight changes to the side that that was knocked out of the Uefa Cup by CSKA Moscow in midweek, with the likes of Gareth Barry, Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey all returning to the starting line-up.
Given that this was Villa's 44th game of the season - three more than they played in the whole of last term - O'Neill decision to rest his key men was understandable and the hosts responded with a bright start.
Stoke were twice forced to scramble the ball clear from Luke Young crosses but Pulis' men did occasionally venture forward and Mamady Sidibe went close with a deflected drive after Curtis Davies had failed to clear.
Villa pushed for a breakthrough but they were repeatedly frustrated, Heskey narrowly failing to connect with Barry's fizzed pass and Zat Knight heading James Milner's in-swinging cross on to the roof of the net.
It seemed as though Stoke's incisive tackling and astute positional play had seen them through to the break unscathed but Villa, to their credit, ploughed on and were rewarded.
Petrov collected possession on the right-hand side of the Stoke penalty area and lashed a stinging effort past former Villa goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen, who appeared to lose sight of the ball as it flew through a crowd of bodies.
The Danish stopper was forced off at half-time with a neck injury and, after the re-start, Villa immediately looked to test his replacement Steve Simonsen with a series of testing aerial balls into the box.
But it was Stoke who showed a greater desire to get forward in numbers and the introduction of Ricardo Fuller on 54 minutes - just three weeks after dislocating a shoulder - had a telling effect.
On 61 minutes, the Jamaica shrugged off Davies and was one-on-one with Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel when Young arrived with an superb sliding tackle.
Fuller then spun and volleyed just over the cross-bar as Stoke pushed hard for a way back into the game.
That appeared beyond them when substitute Carew, on for Heskey after the England striker damaged an Achilles, swept Petrov's neat pass over the head of Simonsen from 25 yards out.
But Villa were given a warning as Shawcross out-jumped Davies and Knight to nod Liam Lawrence's corner over the bar.
Moments later, the centre-half was in a similar position to powerfully head the superb James Beattie's centre into the bottom corner.
As the final whistle approached Villa began to panic and, after failing to clear Diao's long ball forward, Whelan beat Friedel with a crisp strike from outside the box.
Aston Villa: Friedel, Cuellar, Knight, Davies, Luke Young, Milner, Petrov, Barry, Ashley Young, Agbonlahor, Heskey (Carew 76).
Subs Not Used: Guzan, Harewood, Delfouneso, Reo-Coker, Shorey, Gardner.
Booked: Ashley Young.
Goals: Petrov 45, Carew 79.
Stoke: Sorensen (Simonsen 46), Shawcross, Sonko, Higginbotham, Wilkinson, Diao, Amdy Faye (Whelan 64), Pugh (Fuller 54), Lawrence, Beattie, Sidibe.
Subs Not Used: Cort, Cresswell, Kelly, Camara.
Booked: Shawcross.
Goals: Shawcross 88, Whelan 90.
Att: 39,641
Ref: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire).
BBC Sport Player Rater man of the match: Aston Villa's Gabriel Agbonlahor with 7.32 (on 90 minutes).
Please note that you can still give the players marks out of 10 on BBC Sport's Player Rater after the match has finished.
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