- Albion’s 50th home game in the Premier League ends in a draw
- Leandro Trossard scores for the third time at the Amex to put them in front
- Jack Grealish equalises for Villa, his third goal against Albion this season
- Draw means Seagulls stay 14th and face AFC Bournemouth on Tuesday
The Belgian gave Albion the lead with a well-taken strike six minutes before the break, but Villa rallied in the second half and Jack Grealish equalised with 15 minutes to go, his third goal against the Seagulls this season.
Pepe Reina made a great save late on to keep out Neal Maupay’s volley and Albion stay 14th in the table ahead of Tuesday’s trip to AFC Bournemouth.
Graham Potter made three changes to the side beaten by Everton. Fit-again Aaron Mooy, Steven Alzate and Aaron Connolly all returned, with Shane Duffy, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Martin Montoya dropping to the bench. Former Liverpool goalkeeper Reina made his Villa debut.
Albion lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Mooy on the right and Trossard the left of the advanced midfield three, and they dominated possession in the early stages.
Maupay put a shot over from a decent position in the box and the Frenchman was then brought down by Danny Drinkwater, earning the Villa midfielder a booking.
The Seagulls went very close in the 20th minute. Trossard and Bernardo combined on the left and the former picked out Mooy in space, but his volley across the face of goal just eluded Connolly.
Maupay and Connolly linked up again in the 27th minute when Maupay’s ball found the Irishman inside the six-yard box, but Connolly seemed to stumble as he came onto the ball and it rolled wide of the post.
Villa had shown little in an attacking sense until then, but Grealish nearly conjured up a goal eight minutes before half-time. The visitors cleared a free kick and Grealish ran half the length of the pitch, holding off Dale Stephens before firing wide of the left-hand post.
It proved to be a pivotal moment as Albion swept upfield to take the lead in the 39th minute. Maupay did brilliantly to control the ball, run at a retreating defence and lay it into the path of Trossard, who shot across Reina and into the bottom right-hand corner.
Lewis Dunk was booked for bringing down Anwar El Ghazi, who headed wide from Grealish’s free kick just before the break, and Villa had a chance early in the second half too but Drinkwater, leaning back, fired Trezuguet’s cut-back over from just inside the box.
Connolly was replaced by Montoya midway through the second half, but Villa had come more into the game and they levelled in the 75th minute. Substitute Douglas Luiz picked out Grealish with a cross-field ball and the Villa captain controlled it with his right before smashing a left-foot shot past a helpless Maty Ryan.
Potter reacted by bringing on Pascal Gross and Glenn Murray for the last ten minutes, and Albion were denied by Reina’s reflexes in the 87th minute when the Villa keeper pushed out Maupay’s half-volley after Dunk headed down Stephens’ ball into the box.
Webster was booked for a stoppage-time challenge on Grealish, but a point apiece it was and now Albion turn their attention to their midweek trip to the Vitality Stadium.
ALBION: Ryan, Alzate, Dunk, Webster, Bernardo, Mooy (Gross 80), Stephens, Propper, Trossard (Murray 80), Connolly (Montoya 68), Maupay.
SUBS NOT USED: Button, Duffy, Bissouma, Jahanbakhsh.
ATTENDANCE: 30,551