Bristol City banked just a sixth point of their Barclays Women’s Super League campaign after equalising twice for a 2-2 draw away to Aston Villa.
Villa put the visitors under a lot of early pressure and Shae Yanez’s outstretched boot denied Adriana Leon the opener.
But the City keeper had no chance when Rachel Corsie set up Jordan Nobbs for an effort from outside the box, which took a deflection and flew into the net.
However, Lauren Smith’s side took little time to equalise as a clearance was headed back, leading to Emily Syme playing in Amalie Thestrup to score past Daphne van Domselaar.
The home side continued their dominance after the break and Leon restored the advantage, firing home at the near post following Anna Patten’s knock back across the six-yard box.
With 15 minutes of the ninety left, Villa failed to get any distance on a clearance and Carrie Jones took the invitation to rifle home from 20 yards.
Villa pushed hard for a winner but Ebony Salmon poked a close-range chance wide, Naomi Layzell blocked a goal-bound Rachel Daly shot and Nobbs blazed a clear opportunity over the bar.
With the game into a sixth minute of stoppages, Bristol City somehow survived a scramble in the box with Yanez playing her part again.
The result sees bottom-of-the-table City now just two points adrift of West Ham, while Villa are level on points with seventh-placed Leicester City.
