Cardiff City 0 Aston Villa 0 - match report and pictures
[gallery]Villa were denied a late win by David Marshall's heroics as they ground out a point at Cardiff.
The goalkeeper brilliantly saved from Andi Weimann in stoppage time to claim a point for the hosts.
He had already thwarted Fabian Delph before Gabby Agbonlahor wasted a golden chance.
Craig Noone and Fraizer Campbell hit the woodwork for the hosts, who dominated the first half but waned after the break.
The point moved Villa up to 11th and kept Cardiff second bottom of the Premier League.
Ron Vlaar returned at the expense of Ciaran Clark, Marc Albrighton replaced Andi Weimann and Joe Bennett made his first Premier League start since the final day of last season.
The Bluebirds were without Craig Bellamy, who started a three-game ban after accepting an FA charge of violent conduct in their 3-0 defeat to Swansea at the weekend.
But the hosts made light of his absence as they dominated the first half with Villa second best.
Brad Guzan turned Campbell's 14th minute effort onto the post after he has slipped Vlaar.
The ball immediately found its way to Noone and his deflected effort looped over Guzan and struck the bar.
Delph shot wide but it was a minor threat for Cardiff as Noone and Wilfried Zaha pulled the first-half strings.
Kenwyne Jones had a penalty claim rejected after Nathan Baker's clumsy challenge but they failed to cash in on their dominance.
Manchester United loanee Zaha had the ball in the net but was rightly ruled offside 10 minutes before the break.
It was the only time Villa were breached as they were held together by the rock solid Vlaar.
They offered little in attack although began the second half brightly with Benteke mis-timing a header after 48 minutes.
Campbell then dragged a shot across goal after turning Vlaar but Cardiff were unable to maintain their first-half tempo.
Slowly, Villa asserted themselves and Leandro Bacuna wasted their best chance when he fired wide after he wriggled free down the right.
Delph's deflected blockbuster from 20-yards was brilliantly turned wide by Marshall as Villa grew in confidence.
Guzan comfortably dealt with Jones' header before Villa should have scored with nine minutes left.
Benteke's flick found Agbonlahor clean through but he dallied and fired wide under pressure from Théophile-Catherine.
And Villa almost snatched it at the death when Weimann turned Ashley Westwood's cross goalwards but was thwarted by Marshall's wonderful acrobatics.
