Aston Villa’s seemingly unstoppable rise was finally halted when Bournemouth’s £31.7m replacement Evanilson scored an unexpected equalizer in the seventh minute of stoppage time.

The Brazilian, signed from Porto in the summer to replace Dominic Solanke, fired a deft header into the far corner of Emiliano Martínez’s goal from Marcus Tavernier’s free-kick just as Villa were well on their way to the top of the Premier League to remain three points behind Manchester City.

With Ross Barkley scoring his first Villa goal in the 76th minute, eight goals have now been scored or assisted by substitutes for each of these clubs.

Villa weren’t at their best, but whether this was another case of what follows the mayor’s show depends on your perspective. This was certainly a better performance than the goalless draw against Manchester United that followed the euphoric victory over Bayern Munich; But the third European Cup win in a row against Bologna was not an emotional highlight for Villa.

In many ways the stalemate was simply down to Mark Travers, Bournemouth’s stand-in goalkeeper, keeping Villa at bay in the first half with some brilliant saves and a VAR line call on Ollie Watkins.

Watkins was found to have pulled the ball back down the baseline before setting up John McGinn to drive home a shot in the 28th minute after Jacob Ramsey had escaped down the inside left channel.

Travers, who replaced the injured Kepa Arrizabalaga, made a number of memorable saves and enjoyed his return to the starting lineup, not least through Ezri Konsa five minutes before half-time. Just after the hour, he tipped over Pau Torres’ humdinger and then parried Watkins’ header. They proved to be crucial saves as Bournemouth, winners over Arsenal last Saturday, showed their resolve.

As on Tuesday against Bologna, Emery replaced Amadou Onana at half-time with the more attacking Barkley as a partner for the confident Youri Tielemans. With John McGinn, Ramsey and Morgan Rogers lining up against Watkins, Villa had every chance of winning. It’s not like their full-backs are sitting back either.

Fortune seemed to be on the side of the brave. Villa struggled to muster the usual energy and pace to beat Bournemouth and did not rely on a purely attacking midfield at the break, and to the delight of their manager, Barkley scored his first goal at the club.

As Champions League leaders, it is still exciting days for Villa, who have lost just once in their first 13 games this season. The hosts scored after Ian Maatsen sent a cross to Leon Bailey, who headed the ball to Barkley from close range.

But after six minutes of stoppage time, it was Barkley who received his 13th booking of the game for a foul on Tavernier. Tavernier stood up to deliver the cross with which Evanilson scored his second goal for the club.