Bellamy spoils Dunne's big moment to pinch point.

ASTON VILLA.............. 1 MAN CITY.................... 1 RICHARD DUNNE scored a brilliant header against his for mer club but Craig Bellamy denied him the matchwinning glory with a second-half leveller for Manchester City at Villa Park.

Dunne had given Aston Villa a half-time lead with his first goal since his pounds 6million move from Eastlands, outjumping for mer Villa midfielder Gareth Barry.

But Bellamy rescued a deserved point for Mark Hughes' side midway through the second period.

Barry was booed throughout the 90 minutes by the Villa fans on his first return since his pounds 12m summer transfer to City and did not have one of his most influential games.

But Dunne was excellent at the back for Villa and he was applauded by both sets of fans after not celebrating his goal in an elaborate manner.

Villa had the better of the opening 45 minutes, closing City down effectively but also looking threatening when going forward with John Carew causing problems.

But City were more menacing after the break despite Dunne and James Collins making many crucial interceptions at the heart of the Villa back four.

Fabio Capello was amongst the crowd, with seven of the England squad for the World Cup qualifiers with Ukraine and Belarus involved.

The breakthrough came on 14 minutes when Dunne headed Villa into the lead.

Stephen War nock sent over an inswinging corner and Dunne was perfectly placed to climb above Barry and head back across Given into the far corner of the net.

But City fought their way back into the match and after the restart an equaliser always seemed likely.

Bellamy's fourth goal of the season on 67 minutes came courtesy of Adebayor, who broke down the channel.

He cut the ball back to Bellamy and the Welsh international hammered the ball home from 12yards.

CAPTION(S):

EQUALISER: City's Craig Bellamy celebrates his goal