Bristol City and Aston Villa shared the points at Ashton Gate after a 1-1 draw in the Championship on Friday night.

Bristol City took the lead through Josh Brownhill’s low effort from 20 yards (16), but Villa levelled in first-half injury time through Birkir Bjarnason’s bullet header from Conor Hourihane’s free-kick.

Both sides had half-chances in the second half, but neither could find a way through in a dull encounter. It leaves Villa in 11th, with just one win in nine matches, while Bristol City are in eighth, a point better off.

Former Villa man Andreas Weimann missed an early chance for the hosts, blazing over with a close-range header, while former Bristol City forward Jonathan Kodjia saw a good chance blocked at the opposite end from inside the box.

Bristol City won the midfield battle early on, however, and were ahead as the ball broke to Brownhill on the edge of the box, seeing his low drive fly past Orjan Nyland, who will feel he should have done better.

They continued to dominate the first half until Villa’s last-gasp leveller, Bjarnason scoring his second goal of the season with a fierce header from Hourihane’s superb left-wing free-kick.

John McGinn saw a finely-struck half volley well saved by Niki Maenpaa in the second half, before Nathan Baker’s header late on was cleared off the line by a combination of Alan Hutton and McGinn.

Hourihane struck just wide in the last minute, but it ended goalless as the pressure builds on Villa manager Steve Bruce.

Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce: “There is a certain element that think I can’t do the right thing about anything. I know with a club of our size there is expectation. However, it is not a given to come to Bristol City and beat them three- or four-nil. I will get on with the job as always and do the best I can. I know with the squad of players I have that we will be there or thereabouts when it counts.”