Source: Telegraph
Sam Allardyce: referee error cost Blackburn Carling Cup final place
Rovers, and in particular striker Niko Kalinic, brilliantly turned a remarkable second leg of their semi-final at Aston Villa on its head with the young Croatian striker scoring a brace inside 26 minutes to put the visitors 2-1 ahead on aggregate. [LNB]But with Blackburn Rovers in control and Villa all at sea, Atkinson then failed to spot a push from Gabriel Agbonlahor on captain Ryan Nelsen, allowing former Rovers defender Stephen Warnock to fire the home side level on the half hour. [LNB]Manchester City snatch point at BlackburnFrom that moment the momentum shifted Villa's way, and when James Milner scored from the spot 10 minutes later, after Chris Samba was dismissed for a foul on Agbonlahor, the writing was on the wall for Blackburn. [LNB]After the break 10-man Rovers conceded three goals in nine minutes, sparked by an own goal from Steven Nzonzi, followed by a Milner strike that deflected off Agbonlahor and an Emile Heskey effort. [LNB]Blackburn at least restored some pride via a stunning overhead kick from Martin Olsson and a volley from Brett Emerton, only for Ashley Young to finish matters in injury time for a 6-4 win, 7-4 on aggregate. [LNB]Allardyce, though, was far from happy with Atkinson, heaping a significant portion of blame onto the official for the demise of his side's final dream. [LNB]"It's a bit difficult to take, scoring four goals and not getting through to the final," said Allardyce. [LNB]"We were in complete control of the game, and if anybody was going to score again it was us. [LNB]"But then the referee allows a blatant foul on Ryan Nelsen to go unpunished, and at this level you have to make sure the referee gets those decisions right. [LNB]"We are out of a cup final because of that decision perhaps. It is a major decision that has stopped us having the chance to go to Wembley. [LNB]"Whatever anybody might say, we were put in a position we should not have been put in. [LNB]"It lifted the crowd, it lifted Villa because they were playing very poorly, and then they are on their game. [LNB]"You could look at the fourth goal and say Agbonlahor had two arms on it and deflected it into the net for 4-2. [LNB]"Everybody thinks it's over, we're down to 10 men anyway, but then we managed to get back to 5-4. [LNB]"But the major part of us not getting through to the final is the referee, no question about it. [LNB]"Unfortunately, we have to suffer that. There's nothing we can do about it and we can't go to where we want to go, which is Wembley, and he is the major factor." [LNB]Allardyce did at least suggest his defence could have been tighter, only to draw himself back again to criticising Atkinson. [LNB]"There are obviously some areas where we can shoulder the blame for giving the goals away," said Allardyce. [LNB]"We've conceded six goals, and some of those we could have stopped, but the critical stage of the game is there for everybody to see. [LNB]"The big problem is that if a big decision goes against you at a critical time in the game, it makes a massive difference." [LNB]Ultimately, with the exception of Samba's red card, Allardyce had no complaints with his players, adding: "It was a gallant effort. [LNB]"They didn't feel sorry for themselves and kept going to the very end. [LNB]"I've nothing but praise for the way they've applied themselves in the end." [LNB]
