Honours even for Aston Villa & Man City

Aston Villa 1 Manchester City 1. Last night's clash between the sixth and eighth placed sides in the Premier League prior to the match had so many subtexts running through it that it was probably only right that the result itself shouldn't have intruded too much on a fascinating set of battles and old acquaintances being remade.

For the opposing players Richard Dunne and Gareth Barry, the match marked a first encounter against clubs that both had served loyally for years. For the teams themselves, it was a chance to run the rule over the likeliest other challenger to the Big four's domination of the league. And it was a return to action for Emmanuel Adebayor, whose last actions on a football pitch had seen him banned and fined by the FA during City's rambunctious defeat of Arsenal back in September.

England midfielder Barry found that despite 12 years of service and 440 appearances for the Midlanders, the wanderlust which saw him angle for a move to Liverpool in the summer of 2008 and the eventual decision to take the Eastlands dollar had made him a pariah among the once adoring Villa Park fans. The irony of the night's first goal was lost on no-one then.

After a bright start in which they fought for every ball, Aston Villa won a corner on Manchester City's right flank after fifteen minutes. Barry was outjumped for Stephen Warnock's inswinger by Richard Dunne, the player who had been casually sold on by City for £5m following Barry's arrival. The Irish international had been a firm favourite of City's fans, racking up almost 300 club appearances and becoming club captain, and his refusal to celebrate the goal will endeared him further to the visiting supporters, who extraordinarily applauded his goal.

Villa went in ahead at the interval, but the relentless attacking force of Manchester City began to press in the second half, as Barry, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Adebayor, Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy gave their all. Eventually it was the introduction of Stephen Ireland, a player of Dunne's vintage at the club, which broke the deadlock. He played Adebayor down the wing for the Togo international to square for Bellamy. The red-hot Welshman cannot miss the goal at the moment - four goals in as many games - and buried the equaliser.

Villa boss Martin O'Neill appeared happy enough with his summer's business, swapping Barry for Dunne and £7m essentially. “My opinion of Gareth Barry hasn’t changed in three years,” the Villa manager said. “He’s a very fine footballer.” But Dunne? “Magnificent... absolutely immense”. ·