A lacklustre Aston Villa missed out on the chance to move into the top four after being forced to settle for a frustrating 2-2 draw at already-relegated Burnley.
Villa looked a shadow of the team that swept Nottingham Forest aside on Thursday to book their place in the Europa League final and were punished when Jaidon Anthony capitalised on an Emiliano Martinez error to give his side the lead.
The Argentina shot-stopper could only parry Lesley Ugochukwu's long-range strike back into the danger zone before Anthony tucked it into the back of the net.
Zian Flemming then had a golden opportunity to double Burnley's lead against a poor Villa side but sprayed his effort wide of the target from point-blank range.
A disallowed goal for a tight offside call on Ollie Watkins would eventually spark a reaction from Villa, with Ross Barkley glancing home a header to equalise soon after.
After seeing his earlier effort chalked off by VAR, Watkins would eventually have his say on the game after latching onto Martinez's long ball to poke Villa ahead, only for Flemming to sidefoot an equaliser home in response 160 seconds later.
The point at Turf Moor extends Villa's winless run in the Premier League to three games at a critical part of the season, with Bournemouth now just four points behind them in sixth place with two games remaining in the season.
Qualifying for the Champions League season via their league position remains in their control but with Liverpool and Manchester City to come, a dark cloud of uncertainty and the potential of needing to lift the Europa League to qualify now looms above Unai Emery's men.
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery speaking to Your Site:
"I think we deserved more but we needed to be more clinical. We were attacking more in their half than defending in ours, but we conceded three clear chances and conceded two. It's a good point but not enough.
"We keep going forward and play against Liverpool on Friday now. We are excited for our future matches, a final in the Europa League and Manchester City - wow!
"It's very difficult to finish in the top five but at the moment we can feel so proud of what we are doing. Overall it's something fantastic!"
Jamie O'Hara speaking on Your Site News:
"Beat Burnley and it (top 5) is over the line. But they've left themselves two big games where they need to get a result. With the Europa League final, Villa would have liked to rest players but that can't be the case now.
"This was a flat performance after a massive night against Forest on Thursday. No excuses, they'll be disappointed."
Your Site' Patrick Rowe:
Burnley was a perfect opportunity for Aston Villa to alleviate the pressure in the race for Champions League qualification - but it arrived at the wrong time.
Three days after Unai Emery's side swept Nottingham Forest aside with a blistering 4-0 win at Villa Park to book their place in the Europa League final, they were tasked with travelling to Turf Moor.
If Villa were even at a fraction of the levels they hit against Forest, they would have blown already-relegated Burnley away. But they were not.
Your Site' Andy Hinchcliffe described the early stages of the performance as "sluggish" and other than brief spells of pressure, that theme seeped throughout the entire performance.
Ollie Watkins admitted it was "tough" to dig deep after giving everything against Forest, while Unai Emery defended his players for being "tired" after making just three changes.
The point puts them four points clear of Bournemouth in sixth but now means qualification for Europe's elite competition will not be sealed before they face Freiburg in Istanbul on May 20.
Endings to the season do not get much more difficult than Liverpool and Manchester City.
The gap to rivals chasing a place in the top five means the race is still in Villa's hands but fears of missing out on the Champions League altogether, as they did at the end of last season, will be looming throughout.
Interim Burnley boss Michael Jackson:
"I thought it was a good performance. I thought it showed a lot of character and what we spoke about before the game and through the week in expressing yourself and, to make it really simple, have a go, go and show what you're capable of."
Burnley have not won at home in the league since October and there were a large number of empty seats at Turf Moor.
"I totally understand that," Jackson said. "It costs money to come to football games and everything around it, the times that we live in.
"I've got no problem with that. The fans that were here were really good and got behind the team today. If more of them can come, then brilliant."
