Tammy Abraham came off the bench to earn a point for Aston Villa in a frustrating 1-1 draw with Leeds at Villa Park.
Villa could have cut the gap to Manchester City and Arsenal with a win but looked stodgy throughout against a hard-working and organised Leeds outfit.
In fact, Leeds were the better side in the first half and took a deserved lead when Anton Stach hit an incredible free-kick from 35 yards past an out of position Emiliano Martinez.
The strike gave Daniel Farkeโs side the platform to soak up wave after wave of pressure in the second half. Villa had 74% possession overall but struggled to create much of note, with Ollie Watkins scoring from an offside position a rare moment of excitement.
Leeds sub Lukas Nmecha could have headed a second before Abraham came on to save a point at the Holte End. A corner was whipped in, Ezri Konsa headed it down and Abraham diverted it in with his thigh.
The draw means Villa stay third but drop two points on Arsenal, who will now have an eight-point cushion at the top if they win at Spurs on Sunday.
For Leeds, meanwhile, a point from Villa Park is the kind of resilient result that could ultimately keep them in the Premier League.
Seagulls get vital win on the road
James Milner wrote his name into Premier League history as the Seagulls picked up a commanding 2-0 win that dealt a significant blow to Brentfordโs European ambitions.
Milner set a new record of 654 Premier League appearances to move clear of former Aston Villa and Manchester City teammate Gareth Barry.
Brighton scored through Diego Gomez and Danny Welbeck either side of the break as Fabian Hรผrzelerโs side were ruthless on the counter.
For Brentford, this was a chastening afternoon. Keith Andrewsโ side had won seven and drawn two of their previous 11 league games, but they were second best throughout and have now lost back-to-back home league matches.
Milner has now faced 43 different sides in the Premier League โ almost half of the Football League.
