Durán saves the tie against Liverpool and Aston Villa approaches the top four | first division

With at least five minutes left in stoppage time, the stadium announcer asked the Aston Villa fans remain in their seats until the final whistle for a lap of thanks. At that particular moment, it was wishful thinking as Villa went for the jugular. Seconds earlier, Moussa Diaby had forced Alisson to make a save to avoid an improbable 4-3 comeback and total chaos in the stands.

Many fans had spent the previous 10 minutes standing after Jhon Durán's late double got an improbable point that could prove invaluable in the race to secure a Champions League spot. Just when it seemed inevitable that Liverpool would concede victory in Jürgen Klopp's final away game, the substitute, unpredictable at best, turned the game around. His goals, in the 85th and 88th minutes, could well define Villa's season.

A point moves Villa closer to fourth place and a place in the Champions League. Unai Emery will undoubtedly be glued to Events at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday., when anything short of a Spurs victory over Manchester City will ensure Villa return to Europe's top competition for the first time since 1982-83. The hosts had a disastrous start, Emiliano Martínez put the ball into his own goal and, although Youri Tielemans responded, goals from Cody Gakpo and Jarell Quansah seemed to have given Liverpool the victory. “Jürgen Klopp, la, la, la, la,” sang the away support, who, like the rest of us, assumed victory was wrapped in bubbles.

Not so fast. Villa had never celebrated a draw with so much energy. Before kick-off, the banner in the center circle spun and swayed to Jeff Beck's noisy background and Villa will hope it has the stars of the Champions League next season. For now, one of the league's last living storylines, the protracted battle for fourth place, could extend into the final day, when Villa head to Crystal Palace and Spurs host Sheffield United. The only caveat is that Spurs must beat the champions first.

“I'm very happy that Jürgen is a Red,” went the chant of adoration from the visiting fans, eager to shower Klopp with love on his last day away in charge. Martínez's mistake surprised the home fans, but he was soon on his feet, with actor Tom Hanks, one of Villa's famous supporters, among them in the directors' box. Gareth Southgate, England Under-21 coach Lee Carsley and Ipswich coach Kieran McKenna are quieter figures in the back row.

Ollie Watkins played with Quansah and then comfortably beat the defender to the byline, where the Villa striker cut the ball back for the unmarked Tielemans to smash his way through with an unerring strike. Emery went crazy on the touchline, and the importance of leveling was clearly not lost on him. For Villa, at first the equation was simple: win and qualify for the Champions League. If only it were that easy. Villa were trailing again 11 minutes after the equalizer and Emery looked tired. The ball was in Villa's net, but Liverpool's celebrations were fairly tame, even the sound of a boisterous visiting team a little muffled. For Gakpo, who took advantage to regain Liverpool's lead, there was a round of discreet high fives. Part of that was due to an endless wait for video assistant referee Chris Kavanagh to confirm that Joe Gomez was in play in the build-up. Luis Díaz detected Gómez in the overlap and located an unmarked Gakpo at the far post.

It was an infuriating goal from Villa's perspective given that, in the preceding minutes, they had two hints of a goal. Leon Bailey released Watkins with a clever pass, but Quansah closed the door and Moussa Diaby, who surged forward as half-time approached, then teed up Bailey. The Jamaican forward deviated from Wataru Endo, but without realizing it he collided with the imposing Quansah, who extinguished the danger.

Villa's best chance to restore parity in the first half came in the 36th minute, when Diego Carlos made a late tackle to lose the season. Somehow the Brazilian failed to convert a cross from Bailey, from inside the six-yard box, from a meter away. Diego Carlos had a light touch on the ball, enough to cut it wide – and away from Watkins who was lurking behind him – but not into an open net. The replays on the big screens did him no favors.

Surely Villa couldn't start the second half worse than the first? Well, fractionally. Liverpool scored again three minutes after the restart, when Quansah headed against the post after attacking the area to meet Elliott's free kick. Lucas Digne did little to prevent the Liverpool centre-back from making clean contact with Elliott's cross at the far post. Liverpool thought they had found the fourth through Elliott in the 59th minute, but VAR ruled Gakpo was offside when he latched onto Alexis Mac Allister's pass in the middle.

Villa captain John McGinn had said that they had not achieved good results by failing to win the Europa Conference League and here they only had themselves to blame, as the lack of marking presented favorable opportunities for one of the most powerful offensive teams of the planet. But then Durán came on in place of the injured Nicolo Zaniolò in the 79th minute and, despite Emery's moving words, surely not even he imagined what would happen next. Klopp's perfect goodbye – not for the first time this season – was tainted. Meanwhile, Villa is close to returning to the European elite, a stage Klopp knows well. “Danke für alles,” said a banner at the end. Klopp took off his black cap in return.