With at least five minutes of stoppage time still to run, the stadium announcer asked the Aston Villa supporters to remain in their seats at the final whistle for a lap of appreciation. At that particular moment, it was wishful thinking as Villa went for the jugular. Seconds earlier, Moussa Diaby had forced Alisson into a save to prevent an improbable 4-3 comeback victory and utter bedlam in the stands. Many fans had spent the previous 10 minutes on their feet after Jhon Durán’s late double earned an unlikely point that may prove priceless in the race to secure a Champions League berth. Just when it seemed inevitable Liverpool would yield victory from Jürgen Klopp’s final away game, the substitute, unpredictable at the best of times, turned the game. His goals, in the 85th and 88th minutes, may well define Villa’s season. A point edges Villa closer to fourth and a place in the Champions League. Unai Emery will doubtless be glued to events at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday, when anything but a Spurs win over Manchester City will ensure Villa return to Europe’s premier competition for the first time since 1982-83. The hosts got off to a disastrous start, Emiliano Martínez turning the ball into his own net and, though Youri Tielemans replied, goals by Cody Gakpo and Jarell Quansah looked to have earned Liverpool victory. “Jürgen Klopp, la, la, la, la,” sang the visiting support, who, like the rest of us, presumed victory was bubble-wrapped. Not so fast. Never have Villa celebrated a draw quite so emphatically. Before kick-off the centre-circle banner swirled and swayed to the thudding backdrop of Jeff Beck and Villa hope it will have the stars of the Champions League on next season. For now, one of the league’s last live storylines – the protracted battle for fourth – could run to the final day, when Villa head to Crystal Palace and Spurs visit relegated Sheffield United. The only caveat is that first Spurs must beat the champions. “I’m so glad that Jürgen is a Red,” came the adoring chant on loop from the visiting supporters, keen to shower Klopp with love on his final away day in charge. Martínez’s error stunned the home support but they were soon on their feet, the actor Tom Hanks – one of Villa’s celebrity fans – among them in the directors’ box. Gareth Southgate, Lee Carsley, the England Under-21s manager, and Kieran McKenna, the Ipswich manager, cut calmer figures on the row behind. Ollie Watkins toyed with Quansah and then comfortably beat the defender to the byline, where the Villa striker cut the ball back for an unmarked Tielemans to leather in with an unerring strike. Emery went berserk on the touchline, the significance of pulling level clearly not lost on him. For Villa, it was a simple equation at the outset: win and they would qualify for the Champions League. If only it was that easy. Villa trailed again 11 minutes after equalising and Emery wore a weary look. The ball was in the Villa net but Liverpool’s celebrations were rather tame, even the sound from a boisterous away end a little muted. For Gakpo, who tapped in to restore Liverpool’s lead, there was a round of low-key high-fives. Part of that was down to an interminable wait for the video assistant referee, Chris Kavanagh, to confirm Joe Gomez onside in the buildup. Luis Díaz picked out Gomez on the overlap and he located an unmarked Gakpo at the back post. It was a galling strike from a Villa perspective given that, in the preceding couple of minutes, they twice had a whiff of goal. Leon Bailey released Watkins with a clever pass but Quansah shut the door and Moussa Diaby, who ballooned over approaching half-time, then teed up Bailey. The Jamaica forward twirled clear of Wataru Endo but inadvertently ran into the towering frame of the alert Quansah, who extinguished the danger. Villa’s best chance to restore first-half parity arrived on 36 minutes, when Diego Carlos filed a late entry for miss of the season. Somehow the Brazilian failed to convert Bailey’s cross, from inside the six-yard box, from a yard out. Diego Carlos got the faintest of touches on the ball, enough to slice wide – and away from Watkins who was lurking behind him – but not into a gaping net. The replays on the big screens did him no favours. Villa surely could not start the second half any worse than they did the first? Well, fractionally. Liverpool scored again three minutes after the restart, Quansah looping in a header off a post after charging into the box to meet Elliott’s free kick. Lucas Digne did little to prevent the Liverpool centre-back making clean contact on Elliott’s cross at the back post. Liverpool thought they had found a fourth through Elliott on 59 minutes but VAR deemed Gakpo offside when latching on to Alexis Mac Allister’s through ball down the middle. The Villa captain John McGinn had said they underachieved by failing to win the Europa Conference League and here they only had themselves to blame, slack marking presenting one of the most potent attacking teams on the planet with favourable chances. But then Duran entered in place of the injured substitute Nicolo Zaniolò on 79 minutes and, regardless of Emery’s rousing words, even he surely never envisaged what happened next. Klopp’s perfect goodbye – not for the first time this season – was blemished. Villa, meanwhile, are close to a return to the European elite, a stage Klopp knows well. “Danke für alles,” read a banner in the away end. Klopp doffed his black cap in return.