Thursday, 22nd August, 2013
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert was livid with referee Kevin Friend’s decisions after his side went down 2-1 against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge yesterday.
Branislav Ivanovic, who scored the 73rd minute winner for the Blues, should have been sent off earlier felt Lambert.
The Serbian defender only received a yellow card for an apparent elbow on Christian Benteke, while the manager also believed that Villa were denied a penalty for a John Terry handball late on.
He explained to his club’s official site: "It's easy to come on and have sour grapes because you've lost but it's there for everyone to see. It's a clear elbow on Christian, it's a sending-off and I think the referee is in the vicinity to do it.
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"The penalty is a penalty. Everyone saw that. These are major decisions. You're asked to officiate and you miss two huge moments.
"It was a flying elbow. I saw the penalty, everyone did, how can you miss that magnitude of a decision? It's beyond me."
Despite the loss, the Scot was proud of his side and wants to build on Aston Villa’s impressive performances in their first two Premier League games of the season.
"I am so proud of my team. I thought they were absolutely outstanding. Petr Cech has kept them in the game.
"There have been some big, big European teams come here over the years but we've given them a right fright, there's no two ways about it.
"The lads are together. They're a really strong group, they are young lads with energy and pace. The character is always there but some of the football? I was really proud of them.
"Now we need to take this form on. We have had two games at Arsenal and Chelsea away. We should have taken more out of them. Then we have Liverpool.
"These are three incredibly hard, tough games but I think everyone who has seen Villa over the last two games will say they're a good side."
Lambert’s men will next lock horns with Liverpool in a home fixture on Saturday.
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