All season long — and it is a long season that starts with the Intertoto Cup in July — Aston Villa fans have been singing “Istanbul, my lord, Istanbul” in hope, then in expectation, of going all the way through to the Uefa Cup final. The Holte End adapted yesterday, chanting “Champions League, my lord, Champions League” but although Martin O’Neill’s team retained fourth place in the Barclays Premier League, the manner in which they let Stoke City gain a point with two goals in the final two minutes suggests that their passage into the higher echelons of continental combat is hardly guaranteed if they can collapse so softly after controlling a game so comfortably.

John Carew volleyed in an exquisite second goal for the home team 11 minutes from time but Stoke, who had barely ventured outside their own half in a first period in which Stiliyan Petrov’s goal was the least Villa deserved, drew level when Ryan Shawcross headed in and then Glenn Whelan, having just hit the post, drove home a minute into stoppage time.

O’Neill has promised to buy dinner for the 300 fans who travelled to Moscow to witness a second string conclude Villa’s departure from the Uefa Cup but there might be another 35,000 requesting a seat at the manager’s table if the first team falter further. Villa, who could have moved to within a point of Chelsea in second place yesterday, only confirmed how fragile their home form is.

The best away team in the Premier League have won five of their 13 home games and, however imperious they were in a first period in which James Milner and Gareth Barry, Petrov and Ashley Young, their rested stars, played as creatively as at any stage this season, the bottom line is that they failed to put away a limited Stoke side. The knowledge that they lead Arsenal, who are fifth, by six points will have to make do as consolation.

O’Neill has come in for some flak for fielding such an inexperienced side against CSKA Moscow on Thursday but the Villa manager had to make a choice before fatigue overcame his best players. “If we’d won the game today, people would have asked whether it was a vindication [of the Uefa Cup team selection],” O’Neill, on his 57th birthday, said.

Stoke remain in the relegation zone but only on goal difference. After the crushing disappointment of conceding a last-minute equaliser against Portsmouth the previous weekend, they will be buoyed by such a recovery. “Everyone outside of Stoke-on-Trent has written us off,” Tony Pulis, the manager, said. “But our fans are convinced we are going to stay up.”

Stoke, attempting to shut off Villa’s prowess down the flanks by using five at the back, were played off the park in the first 45 minutes but Villa had to settle for Petrov’s goal just before the interval. The playmaker thundered in his first league goal of the season from Milner’s pass

When Thomas Sorensen, the former Villa goalkeeper, did not come out for the second half, suffering from sickness, the home team appeared to think their job was done. “For the first time I think I detected a bit of over-confidence,” O’Neill conceded.

Stoke improved with the introductions of Ricardo Fuller and Whelan and the reversion to 4-4-2. But when Petrov crossed for Carew to clip in a volley from the edge of the penalty area over Steve Simonsen, it looked like job done. Shawcross, atoning for last week’s own goal, headed in James Beattie’s cross, however, and when Zat Knight only partially cleared a cross, Whelan was not shut down as he was allowed a clean sight of goal to drive beyond Brad Friedel.

Aston Villa (4-4-2): B Friedel 6 - C Cuéllar 6, Z Knight 6, C Davies 6, L Young 7 - J Milner 7, S Petrov 8, G Barry 7, A Young 7 - G Agbonlahor 5, E Heskey 5. Substitute: J Carew (for Heskey, 76min). Not used: B Guzan, M Harewood, N Delfouneso, N Reo-Coker, N Shorey, C Gardner. Next: Man City (a)

Stoke (5-4-1): T Sorensen 7 - A Wilkinson 6, I Sonko 5, R Shawcross 7, D Higginbotham 7, DPugh 6 - L Lawrence 6, Amdy Faye 5, S Diao 6, M Sidibe 6 - J Beattie 7. Substitutes: S Simonsen 6 (for Sorensen, 46min), R Fuller 7 (for Pugh, 54), G Whelan 8 (for Faye, 64). Not used: L Cort, R Cresswell, S Kelly, H Camara. Next: Bolton (h).

Referee: H Webb Attendance: 39,641.