LONDON (AP) — Douglas Luiz grabbed a late equalizer as Aston Villa snatched a 1-1 draw at Brentford in the English Premier League to keep its aim of European qualification on track on Saturday.
Ivan Toney looked to have secured a 100th win for Thomas Frank as Brentford manager with his 20th goal of the season in the 65th minute.
But Villa has yet to be held scoreless in a match since Unai Emery was appointed manager last October, and Luiz kept up that record with a close-range finish in the 87th.
Villa stayed in sixth place, and was two points behind Tottenham in fifth.
Villa was unchanged from its 3-0 win over Newcastle last weekend, but was unable to match that dazzling display against a physical Bees side. All it had to show for an anemic first-half performance was Emi Buendia’s toe-poke, which forced an early save from David Raya, and a narrowly wide curler from John McGinn.
At the other end, Bryan Mbeumo was giving Alex Moreno the runaround, flicking Toney’s pass over the full back’s head before volleying straight at Emiliano Martinez.
Moreno won their next duel with a goal-saving sliding tackle just as the Cameroon forward was about to side-foot Vitaly Janelt’s cross into an empty net.
Martinez bravely dived at the feet of Toney as the Bees frontman attempted to steer in Kevin Schade’s low cross.
The Argentina World Cup winner also raced out of his area to deny Janelt, and must have hurt himself in the process as he was replaced by Robin Olsen at halftime.
Olsen dealt with a looping header from Bees substitute Frank Onyeka, but made a mess of another header from Schade.
The winger, yet to score for the Bees since joining on loan from Freiburg in January, was presented with an open goal but from a tight angle he fired into the side-netting.
Mbeumo should also have hit the target after racing on to Toney’s ball over the top, only to sky his first-time shot.
A goal was coming, and it arrived when Mbeumo tormented Moreno once more before swinging in a cross which Ashley Young missed and Toney converted at the far post.
Onyeka should have doubled the lead when he met another Mbeumo cross but he scuffed his effort wide.
It proved a costly miss as, after a goalmouth scramble, Buendia pulled the ball back for Luiz to lash home and snatch a point.
There was still time for Ollie Watkins, who had a quiet game against his old side, to squander a chance to make it a club-record sixth straight league win for Villa when his stoppage-time header flew over.
Crystal Palace 0, Everton 0
In London, Everton slipped into the English Premier League relegation zone after drawing at Crystal Palace 0-0.
Despite earning a point at Selhurst Park, Everton fell into the bottom three because Leicester City beat Wolverhampton 2-1.
It could have been worse for the Toffees after going down to 10 men in the 80th minute when defender Mason Holgate picked up his second yellow card for a questionable tackle.
Sean Dyche’s squad held on for the draw, which extended the team’s winless run to five games.
Eberechi Eze thought he gave Palace the lead in the 57th when he chipped the ball over goalkeeper Jordan Pickford but he was ruled offside.
Palace remained unbeaten since the return of manager Roy Hodgson, who oversaw three straight wins entering the match.
The south London club was without a win in 2023 when it hired the 75-year-old Hodgson last month as the replacement for the fired Patrick Vieira.
Everton, which hosts fourth-placed Newcastle on Thursday, was third from last in the standings — tied on points with Leicester but trailing on goal difference with six games remaining.
The draw kept Palace in 12th place.
Leicester 2, Wolves 1
In Leicester, the home side ended a 10-match winless run by beating Wolverhampton 2-1 to climb out of the English Premier League relegation zone.
Thomas Castagne scored the winning goal in the 75th minute for Leicester, which came from behind for its first victory since Feb. 11 and in Dean Smith’s first home game in charge since replacing the fired Brendan Rodgers.
Leicester jumped above Everton and Nottingham Forest in the standings and out of the bottom three with six games left.
Wolves went in front in the 13th after Youri Tielemens was dispossessed in his own half. Matheus Cunha ran forward and clipped home a curling finish from just outside the area.
Leicester equalized in the 37th after Jamie Vardy was brought down by Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa. Kelechi Iheanacho converted the spot kick after a stuttering run-up.
