Kristoffer Ajer scored a second-half equaliser as Brentford drew 2-2 against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
Yehor Yarmoliuk had earlier opened the scoring for the Bees before Nicolas Jackson equalised, with John McGinn and Ajer then trading goals during the second half at Villa Park.
El Hadji Malick Diouf made his first Premier League start for the Bees, replacing Mikkel Damsgaard, who was not in the squad, in the only change to Keith Andrews’ starting XI from the 3-0 victory against Chelsea just over three weeks ago. Mathias Jensen and Sepp van den Berg were named among the substitutes.
There was an early scare for Brentford when Jannik Schuster's backpass almost caught Caoimhín Kelleher short, forcing the goalkeeper to scramble clear under pressure from Jackson.
The Bees threatened at the other end two minutes later. Keane Lewis-Potter charged forward on the counter attack and found Igor Thiago, whose effort deflected back into his path. The striker then picked out Kevin Schade, but the Germany international skewed his shot high and wide.
Brentford did make their positive start count after 10 minutes.
Tyrone Mings was put under pressure by two Bees players and Schade won possession in the final third before feeding Thiago. The striker's cross was only cleared as far as Yarmoliuk, who thrashed a half-volley into the net to give the visitors the lead.
Villa responded just two minutes later. McGinn drove through midfield and found Emiliano Buendía on the edge of the box. His effort deflected into the path of Jackson at the back post, and the centre-forward made no mistake from close range to level the contest.
The hosts threatened again on the half-hour mark following a counter attack. Michael Kayode produced a superb block to deny Johan Manzambi before Kelleher saved the midfielder's follow-up, with Buendía gathering the rebound and firing over the bar.
Manzambi caused more problems during first-half stoppage-time, weaving his way past a couple of challenges inside the penalty area before the ball fell for Jackson, who wrapped his foot around an effort but sent it over.
Kelleher then produced a terrific save on the stroke of half-time to ensure the sides went into the break level.
The Republic of Ireland international initially parried Jackson's effort into the path of McGinn inside the six-yard box, but recovered brilliantly to keep out the midfielder's close-range follow-up with his right arm.
Brentford almost restored their advantage four minutes after the restart.
Ajer's long ball was chased down by Thiago, whose pressure forced Victor Lindelöf into an error. Thiago managed to get his head to the loose ball and Schade met it on the volley, but Zion Suzuki produced an excellent save to beat the effort away.
Kayode then whipped a dangerous ball towards the near post for Thiago five minutes later, but the striker side-footed his volley over the crossbar.
Villa responded with two opportunities of their own. Jackson drove forward and released Buendía, who attempted to catch Kelleher out at his near post but found the side netting.
Buendía went close again four minutes later when his shot took a deflection off Ajer and flew narrowly wide.
The hosts eventually went ahead with 13 minutes remaining. Half-time substitute Aaron Hickey initially made an excellent last-ditch challenge to stop Ibrahim Mbaye, but Manzambi collected the loose ball and found McGinn, who curled home via a deflection to make it 2-1.
Brentford's response was immediate. Ajer played a one-two with Jaidon Anthony, who produced an excellent turn to escape the Villa defence before returning the ball to the Norway international inside the six-yard box; the centre-back kept his composure and fired a low effort past Suzuki to bring the Bees level once again.
Villa had an opportunity to find a winner with three minutes remaining when Alysson drove down the right and cut the ball back for Boubacar Kamara, but the midfielder was unable to keep his effort down.
The result means Brentford have not lost in their opening six Premier League games of the season, their longest unbeaten start to a league campaign since 2006/07.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Suzuki; Cash, Lindelöf, Mings, Ruggeri (Wan-Bissaka HT); Gomes (Barkley 86), Kamara; McGinn, Buendía (Mbaye 64), Manzambi (Alysson 86), Jackson
Subs: Bizot, Pau, Garnacho, Abraham, Bogarde
Brentford (4-2-3-1): Kelleher; Kayode, Ajer, Schuster (Hickey HT), Diouf, Lewis-Potter (Ouattara 67); Janelt, Yarmoliuk (Jensen 67); Anthony (Wilson 85), Thiago, Schade (Sangaré 52)
Subs: Valdimarsson, Fredrick, van den Berg, Carvalho
Attendance: 36,636
Andrews praises Bees' resilience
Keith Andrews reflects on Aston Villa draw
Keith Andrews praised Brentford’s “grit and resilience” after the Bees twice responded to setbacks in their 2-2 draw with Aston Villa.
“There was a little bit of rustiness from some of our play,” Andrews said. “Players have been away, two-thirds of the squad maybe, for the best part of three weeks.
“You’re trying to bring them back onto our page as quickly as possible over the last couple of days, how we play, how we do things, what we do.
“The grit, the resilience, some of our play was really good at times. The reaction to going 2-1 down to come back, and then I think if we had been ourselves in the last 10 or 15 minutes, there were opportunities where we could have gone and won the game.”
Ajer on Villa draw
Reaction: Kris Ajer on Aston Villa draw
Kris Ajer, scorer of Brentford's second goal, shared his thoughts after the Bees picked up a point at Villa Park.
“It was a physically tough. Both teams put everything into it, there was a lot of defending and a lot of attacking from both sides,” said the Norwegian defender.
“We obviously wanted a bit more control of the game and not to give that many chances, but to leave on a day like today with one point is good.
On his equalising goal, Ajer added: “It was good build-up play, Jaidon [Anthony] did amazing getting in behind, dribbling past the defender and giving me the ball, then I had to execute.
“I closed my eyes and hoped for the best! It went in so that was good.”