Nathaniel Clyne denied Aston Villa a much-needed win as his late goal rescued a point for a disappointing Southampton side.

The England right-back buried Ryan Bertrand's cross to reduce the gap on leaders Chelsea to six points.

Villa went ahead when Gabriel Agbonlahor took advantage of an error of judgement from Saints goalkeeper Fraser Forster to score.

But Saints' pressure finally told when Clyne side-footed home from 12 yards.

Ronald Koeman's side dominated possession - completing 229 passes more than the hosts - and undoubtedly deserved a share of the spoils.

But with their next three games coming against Manchester City,Arsenal and Manchester United, Koeman will be concerned at the lack of quality in the final third on display from his side against Villa's packed defence.

They managed only four shots on target all evening, and Villa keeper Brad Guzan had rarely been forced into serious action until Clyne's well-taken finish nine minutes from time.

Villa stopped a run of three straight home defeats but have not won since beating Liverpool on 13 September.

And few of the crowd of 25,311 - the lowest league attendance at Villa Park since December 1999 - will remember Paul Lambert's 100th game in charge with much fondness.

Lambert's side have scored just six league goals in 12 games and Agbonlahor's opener was their only genuine attempt in an evening where they lined up to frustrate Southampton and hit on the break.

It was a limited gameplan, but one which worked for the opening goal. Ciaran Clark's hammered clearance split the Southampton central defenders and Agbonlahor made the most of hesitation between Toby Alderweireld and Forster to nip in and steer home from a tight angle.

Southampton continued to probe for an opening but with Shane Long struggling in the hole behind Graziano Pelle, they failed to test Guzan until after the hour mark.

Jose Fonte's low effort then forced Guzan to nervously kick clear before Dusan Tadic rattled in a free-kick which was well dealt with.

For all of Southampton's play, Villa had the chance to wrap up the win when they broke from a Saints corner, but Andreas Weimann was unable to steer home Agbonlahor's cross.

It was a crucial miss as moments later Southampton finally found a way through.

Bertrand beat his man on the left to pick out Clyne on the edge of the box, and with Agbonlahor slow to react, the full-back drove into the far corner.