Craig Bellamy's second-half equaliser earned Manchester City a deserved point and lifted them into the top four after former captain Richard Dunne threatened to wreck Gareth Barry's return to Aston Villa.
Dunne declined the opportunity to celebrate in front of City's fans when he beat Barry to James Milner's corner to head Villa in front early on.
And he almost added a second before City's growing superiority was rewarded when Bellamy turned Emmanuel Adebayor's cross high beyond Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel after 67 minutes.
City looked the more likely to claim the three points in the closing stages of an entertaining confrontation between two clubs hoping to disturb the established order in the top four of the Premier League.
Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill:
"I'm disappointed with the result but not the performance because we were just fantastic.
"The first half was just about the best we have played and we could have gone 2-0 up. City came into it after because they are a very, very good side.
"The players and the crowd were all fantastic tonight. We were very strong and we played some great stuff too."
Man City manager Mark Hughes:
"A lot of teams will come here and go under, but I thought we showed a lot of very good qualities.
"We got level and as the game wore on I thought we looked more likely to win it. But we'll take a point and we've had a fantastic start to the season.
"When we come back after internationals we will start all over again."
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