Burnley 1 Aston Villa 1Burnley Danny Ings 87 pen
Aston Villa Joe Cole 38
Danny Ings scores Burnley's goal from a penalty against Aston Villa in the Premier League matchA tricky couple of days for Aston Villa ended in frustration as Danny Ings’ late penalty denied them a victorious start to the post-Roy Keane era.
After the decision by Keane, who was the assistant manager, to leave Paul Lambert brought the first-team coach, Scott Marshall, on to the bench in the hope of masterminding a first win in nine games and opening up some daylight above the bottom three.
Just as importantly, he gave a first start of the season to Joe Cole, 33, who showed he still has plenty to offer by giving Villa a first-half lead.
That lasted until four minutes from the end but Burnley’s renewed belief that they can beat the drop was evident again as they came charging back, earning a point when Ings scored from the spot for his fourth goal in his last five games.
Villa’s build-up to the game had been far from ideal after Keane’s sudden departure and their record at Turf Moor did not bode well for a change in their fortunes. Remarkably, Villa had not won at Burnley in 23 league games in a run going back to 1936.
The fact that Burnley have had only two seasons in the top tier since then slightly skews that statistic, but having managed back-to-back victories only once in their last visit to the Premier League in 2009-10, this represented a major opportunity to make significant progress in their bid to avoid a repeat of that instant relegation.
Sean Dyche was forced to make his first change of the season to the central defensive axis of Michael Duff and Jason Shackell, with a calf injury to Duff allowing the on-loan Manchester United defender Michael Keane to make his first Premier League start.
The England under-21 international has had to be patient at Turf Moor since signing at the end of August, ironically, at a time when he is likely to have figured under Louis van Gaal due to the injury problems at Old Trafford.
Having waited so long for a chance, Keane was quickly involved in a start in which both sides attacked as if it was the last 10 minutes of a cup tie.
Gabriel Agbonlahor, one of only two players to have scored for Villa this season, carried an early threat and forced a corner with a deflected shot which Jores Okore met with a stabbed effort which bounced off Keane and was goalbound until Dean Marney cleared off the line.
Marney then got in the way of a Ciaran Clark header from another Ashley Westwood header before Cole threaded a pass through for Agbonlahor to test keeper Tom Heaton.
At the other end Ings used his pace to stretch the Villa defence, while Michael Kightly was just off target with a volleyed effort which flew across the face of goal. But Villa’s persistence finally paid off seven minutes before the break when Cole put them ahead with his first goal since December, steering the ball home at the near post from Andreas Weimann’s perfectly timed pass, to give Villa only their seventh goal of the campaign.
It was no more than they deserved but Burnley refused to accept a fourth home defeat of the season readily and gave everything in the second half to try to get back on terms before Ings finally managed it.
Villa certainly did not sit on their lead but were grateful to their goalkeeper, Brad Guzan, as he denied Kightly at the end of a superb run which saw the winger collect Ings’ flick and beat three defenders before failing at the final hurdle.
The substitute Lukas Jutkiewicz then almost scored with his first touch from a Kieran Trippier free-kick and with time running out made a vital contribution when he turned away from Okore and was pulled to the ground, allowing Ings to drive home the equaliser from the spot.
Ings even had time to win it but from Ross Wallace’s pass after a superb first touch poked his shot against the post, before Jutkiewicz headed wide in a tumultuous finish.
