John Carew’s 69th minute equalizer sends Aston Villa to Moscow with an outside chance of progressing in the UEFA Cup. The big 29-year-old cancelled Vagner Love’s opener after he ran onto Craig Gardener’s pass following some good work from Gareth Barry.

Visiting CSKA Moscow were fortunate to hang on in the end, as the hosts missed a hatful of chances in the closing moments.

Having dribbled through the middle of the park, the captain spotted Ashley Young streaking down the left flank and fed him the ball, setting up a cross that went through Moscow’s six-yard box, past goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev and behind all four defenders. Carew had only to stroke it home.

The goal justified Villa’s dominance in possession throughout the second half, although Young will be ruing a missed opportunity in the 80th minute that would have put the hosts in front. Zat Knight headed just wide only a minute later following a Barry corner from Akinfeev’s left.

Love put CSKA ahead after 14 minutes when he ran clear into space and calmly slotted the ball past Brad Guzan. A second goal would surely have all but sealed the tie for the Russians, but Villa overcame the initial shock and had the upper hand by the interval.

After crashing out of the FA Cup at Everton on Sunday, manager Martin O’Neill would not have been keen on a second successive stumble in a knockout competition. However, the manager opted to rest number-one goalkeeper Brad Friedel with an eye to the crucial showdown with Chelsea at the weekend.

The second-leg of the Round of 32 tie will be played on Thursday, February 26 at CSKA’s Luzhniki Stadium. With an away-goal already in the bag, the Russians have to be favoured to advance into the Round of 16 draw. CSKA last won the UEFA Cup in 2005.

In other UEFA Cup action, Wednesday, Dynamo Kiev earned a vital 1-1 draw at home to Valencia while Zenit St. Petersburg beat Stuttgart 2-1 at Petrovski Stadium and Olympiakos were upset 3-1 at home to St. Etienne.

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