Early in the season, he began to form a successful strike partnership with teammate John Carew, this demonstrated in the Premier League away matches against West Bromwich Albion and Wigan Athletic where both players scored in both matches and provided assists. On 3 November 2008, Agbonlahor was at the centre of a controversy with Newcastle United's Joey Barton when, during the match, Barton appeared to brush his fingers on Agbonlahor's face. It later emerged that Barton's attack might have been race-orientated but, after careful consideration by both Aston Villa and The Football Association, no further action was taken. On 8 November, it emerged in some national newspapers that the reason Agbonlahor decided not to pursue legal action against Barton was because he "felt sorry" for him. On 15 November, he scored once and played a part in the other goal, when Aston Villa beat Arsenal 2–0 at Emirates Stadium. He scored a brace against Bolton Wanderers on 13 December. Agbonlahor notched his tenth league goal of the season in the 90th minute in a 2–0 win against Blackburn Rovers on 7 February.