*Peter Odemwingie scored a dramatic 83rd-minute equaliser as West Bromwich Albion came from 2-0 down to deny struggling Aston Villa a crucial win.*

Christian Benteke’s turn and shot from outside the penalty area put Villa ahead before Gabriel Agbonlahor doubled the lead with a composed finish.

But Chris Brunt’s 20-yard effort sparked a fine Baggies fightback.

Odemwingie levelled from inside the six-yard area after Villa failed to clear a corner.

Although a point was enough to lift the visitors out of the relegation zone, it was a familiar story for Paul Lambert and his players.

Not for the first time this season Villa failed to secure three points after leading 2-0, and they remain in trouble near the bottom of the table.

In an absorbing West Midlands derby, they raced into a two-goal lead on the back of a gutsy performance full of youthful exuberance against a West Brom side that struggled to get going until the second half.

Benteke opened the scoring with a glorious 12th-minute finish, the Belgian producing a superb turn and strike from outside the area after Albion’s defence had backed off.

West Brom were a shadow of the side that started the season so well, and fell further behind when Agbonlahor drilled a left-foot finish beyond Ben Foster after turning inside Gareth McAuley.

Then Baggies keeper Foster produced arguably the turning point of the match when he denied substitute Eric Lichaj, a fifth-minute replacement for injured defender Nathan Baker, from making it 3-0 before half-time.

Brunt’s 49th-minute side-foot finish in off the post from 20 yards began Albion’s comeback, Odemwingie twice going close to scoring before rescuing a point with seven minutes remaining.

The striker, who was not called up by Nigeria for the Africa Cup of Nations, capped an excellent second-half display after turning

inside the six-yard box to hammer the ball into the roof of the net following a header by McAuley from a corner.

The result at least stopped the rot for Villa after four defeats in their previous six league games.

Yet they are without a win in six matches and face two important ties against Bradford in the Capital One Cup semi-final and Millwall

in the FA Cup before returning to league action against fellow strugglers Newcastle on 29 January.

But Lambert’s side face a battle to stay up until they learn to see out games.