Pictures and analysis of Swansea 2 Aston Villa 2

New Year, different Aston Villa? This curious draw probably left the travelling claret and blue faithful with more questions than answers.

Villa boss Paul Lambert sat with his head in his hands at the final whistle at the Liberty Stadium after his side were denied all three points by Danny Graham's injury-time equaliser.

However, had it not been for Swansea's profligacy in an opening spell of utter dominance in the first half, the manager's reaction would have been the same, albeit for entirely different reasons.

Having conceded 15 goals in their last three outings, Villa's confidence was understandably brittle as their inexperience was cruelly exposed by Chelsea, Tottenham and Wigan.

It seemed a little strange, therefore, that Lambert reacted to that trio of defeats with the selection of an even more inexperienced starting line-up.

The Villa boss made four changes as Enda Stevens, Fabian Delph, Ashley Westwood and Marc Albrighton were all recalled with Eric Lichaj, Stephen Ireland, Barry Bannan and Brett Holman dropped to the bench.

It meant Villa fielded their youngest ever Premier League side with an average age of 23 years and 120 days. And, initially, it looked to have backfired as Swansea swaggered around Villa's youngsters who seemed tentative and nervous.

Swansea had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the fourth minute when Villa old-boy Wayne Routledge was sent clear with just goalkeeper Brad Guzan to beat, but the American advanced off his line and saved well to his left.

Villa failed to learn their lesson, however, and were punished in a near identical manner in the ninth minute when Routledge was put through by Pablo Hernandez.

This time, the Swansea winger elected to take the ball past Guzan and slotted into the empty net. Another demolition job appeared on the cards.

Swansea were rampant and should have doubled their lead when Spanish striker Michu struck the post while Graham blazed wide from a good position shortly afterwards.

It only seemed to be a matter of time until Swansea would score again, with Villa unable to get to grips with the guile and possession football employed by the South Wales club.

A breathtaking passing move from the hosts unlocked the Villa defence in the 26th minute and culminated in a shot by Michu, who fooled the visitors' backline with a clever flick, which struck the post via Guzan's fingertips.

It really should have been at least 3-0 to Swansea but, partly through endeavour and partly through good fortune, Villa climbed back into the contest before the interval with their first goal in their last 353 minutes of Premier League football.

Belgium striker Christian Benteke controlled a hopeful long ball and played in Andreas Weimann who fired past goalkeeper Michel Vorm.

The goal was the shot in the arm Villa desperately needed and gave them the self-belief that had so eluded them in their previous three matches as they began the second half with renewed purpose.

Lambert's side were given a lucky escape in the 59th minute when Joe Bennett was judged to have handled right on the edge of the penalty area, rather than inside it as the Swansea players protested.

And Guzan was forced to make a smart save from Graham from the resulting free-kick. Villa's endeavour at the other end almost paid off in the 71st minute.

Benteke saw his shot blocked and Weimann fired wide from a tight angle as the momentum shifted. Swansea looked short of ideas and Villa's players grabbed the bull by the horns to take the lead with six minutes left on the clock.

Barry Bannan's corner picked out Benteke who saw his header cleared off the line by Nathan Dyer, but the Swansea man then upended Weimann and referee Mark Halsey pointed to the spot.

Benteke stepped up and blasted the spot-kick past Vorm to send the Villa fans wild. The Swans threw everything at Villa in a tense finale, and finally got their equaliser in injury time when Graham netted past Guzan at the second attempt.

By Timothy Abraham