Sheffield: Sheffield United and Aston Villa shared the spoils in an electric 2-2 thriller at Bramall Lane in the Premiership on Monday. Villa were in front after just two minutes when Stiliyan Petrov uncorked a shot from 20 yards and Martin O'Neill's men held the upper hand until five minutes after the break.

That was the Bulgaria international's first goal for Villa since his 6.5 million pound signing from Celtic in the summer.

Then Stephen Quinn netted the equaliser on only the 20-year-old's second Premiership start when he volleyed home from 12 yards.

In a breathless spell the Blades went ahead for the first time in the 64th minute when Danny Webber scored with his back to goal.

But Villa responded seconds later when, from the restart, Steven Davis chipped into United's area with Milan Baros rifling the ball into the roof of the net.

That was Baros's first Premiership goal since he came up with a double against Birmingham last April.

United went close to grabbing the winenr when Taylor had to excel to deny Rob Hulse's header.

The draw, Villa's seventh in nine away games, saw O'Neill's side climb to eighth spot while Sheffield United, dneied a third straight win, also moved up a place into fifth from bottom, three points off the relegation zone.

Sheffield's man of the match Keith Gillespie was satisfied with the draw.

"We'll take a point in the end considering we went in at half-time losing. Every point in this division is vital. We're starting to believe we deserve to be here," he told Sky Sports.

"We came out all guns blazing in the second half and once we got our noses in front, I thought we'd go on to win the game but we probably lacked a bit of concentration straight from the kick-off," he said.