Aston Villa Football Club News

• Nickname:The Villains
• Founded:1874
• Manager:Alex McLeish

• Ground:Villa Park
• Capacity:42,584

O'Neill left with bitter taste

11 Apr 2010 - 12:12:56

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Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill claimed Chelsea's John Terry should have been sent off for a 'horrendous' challenge on James Milner during his side's FA Cup semi-final defeat at Wembley.

Villa lost 3-0 in Saturday's last-four encounter after second-half goals from Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda and Frank Lampard.

But speaking afterwards, O'Neill was angry that referee Howard Webb only booked the Chelsea skipper for a 74th minute lunge at Milner.

"It was an horrendous challenge on an England team-mate," he fumed.

"James Milner is exceptionally lucky his career is intact. It should have been a straight red card.

"It could have been very serious. James is lucky to have got away with it. The fact his leg was in the air helped. I have spoken to the doctor who says he's a very lucky boy."

O'Neill was also highly critical of Webb's decision not to award Villa a first-half penalty when Gabriel Agbonlahor appeared to be brought down in the box by a clumsy Jon Obi Mikel tackle.

He added: "It is incontestable. Even the Chelsea players knew, you could tell by their reaction it was a penalty.

"The referee has chosen to ignore it because of the possible consequences."