Premier League: Aston Villa 1 Wigan 1

Wigan Athletic continued their run of never having lost a Premier League game at Villa Park after a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa.

Starting the day in the bottom three, Wigan drew first blood in the 10th minute with a clinical finish from Charles N’Zogbia.

The Frenchman powered the ball low into the corner after Victor Moses did well to skip the challenge of Richard Dunne and lay the ball in down the left channel.

But Villa were level seven minutes later through England man Ashley Young.

The midfielder won a free kick 25 yards from goal, and with an assist by Stiliyan Petrov curled the ball low around the wall and into the corner of the net.

Emile Heskey almost made it two, setting himself up to volley in from seven yards out, but a brilliant reaction save from Ali Al Habsi denied him.

But Heskey was lucky to stay on the pitch on 33 minutes. When not awarded a free kick by referee Mike Jones, the striker sprinted to complain barging the referee in the process. He was lucky to only escape with a yellow card.

It lead to assistant manager Gary McAllister substituting him at half time.

Tempers flared once more when Jones correctly denied Ashley Young a penalty, and within 30 seconds he was in the action again, awarding an advantage to Villa but blocking the pass to inadvertently present an opening for Wigan.

Both sides had chances in the second half, but in truth there was little of the spirit shown in the first.

Wigan’s Moses brought a save from Brad Friedel and Hugo Rodallega shot inches wide after a clever turn in the box.

Villa’s Darren Bent had the best opportunity to win it with seven minutes to go. He was put in by Ashley Young with a clear run on goal, but his effort was well saved by the legs of Al Habsi.