Richard Dunne scored a brilliant header against his former 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 £6million move from Eastlands, outjumping former 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 £12million summer transfer to City and did not have one of his most influential games.

Dunne, however, 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.

It was a stark contrast to the over-the-top reaction from City striker Emmanuel Adebayor after he had scored against his old team Arsenal last month.

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 in the game.

And, one of them, Gabriel Agbonlahor, went close to giving Villa the lead after only two minutes from the first corner of the game.

Ashley Young played the ball into Agbonlahor and his first time flick forced a fine save from Shay Given at the base of the post.

Villa skipper Stiliyan Petrov then shot only just wide with a low drive after being teed up by Young 20 yards out.

Then after 14 minutes former City skipper Dunne headed Villa into the lead.

Stephen Warnock 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.

Dunne was mobbed by his team-mates but showed little emotion and was applauded by the City fans when he made his way back to the centre circle.

Petrov became the first player to be yellow-carded by referee Mike Dean after 28 minutes for a touchline challenge on Shaun Wright-Phillips.

De Jong was then cautioned for chopping down Young level with the City box after a change of pace had seen him waltz past the challenge of Zabaleta.

City started to see more of the ball and Friedel was seriously extended for the first time after 41 minutes, tipping over an Adebayor header from a Barry free-kick.

Villa were sitting back and defender Carlos Cuellar made a vital interception to deny Tevez as he tried to play in Adebayor.

Barry went close to setting up a City equaliser within two minutes of the start of the second half, his probing pass into the six yard box only just failing to pick out Adebayor's run.

City boss Mark Hughes made a change after 50 minutes, replacing De Jong with Stephen Ireland who had recovered from illness.

Collins made a vital challenge on Wright-Phillips after he got in behind the Villa defence to run onto Tevez's pass inside the box.

Dunne had a good chance to score for the second time but this time his header from Milner's corner slid just wide.

City forced a string of corners and after 67 minutes Bellamy brought them back on level terms with his fourth goal of the season.

Wright-Phillips won the ball and released Ireland who then played the ball into Adebayor down the channel.

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

Friedel came off his line to save bravely at the feet of Adebayor and Milner headed wide from an inviting cross from Young.

Young was then replaced by Nigel Reo-Coker, who was afforded his first action since his training-ground spat with O'Neill last month.

Teams:

Aston Villa Friedel, Cuellar, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Milner, Petrov, Sidwell, Ashley Young (Reo-Coker 81), Agbonlahor, Carew (Heskey 69).

Subs Not Used: Guzan, Delph, Shorey, Beye, Gardner.

Booked: Petrov.

Goals: Dunne 15.

Man City Given, Zabaleta, Lescott, Toure, Bridge, De Jong (Ireland 50), Barry, Wright-Phillips, Tevez (Santa Cruz 68), Bellamy, Adebayor.

Subs Not Used: Taylor, Richards, Sylvinho, Johnson, Petrov.

Booked: De Jong, Wright-Phillips.

Goals: Bellamy 67.

Att: 37,924

Ref: Mike Dean (Wirral).