• Carling Cup

O'Neill blasts ref's refusal to send off Vidic

Martin O'Neill believes Nemanja Vidic should have been shown the red card after this challenge on Gabriel Agbonlahor © Getty Images

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Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has blasted referee Phil Dowd's refusal to send off Nemanja Vidic three minutes into Sunday's Carling Cup final defeat to Manchester United.

James Milner scored from the spot, but should Nemanja Vidic have been sent-off for the challenge that led to the penalty?

Vidic brought down Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor inside the area and appeared to be the last man, but the defender was not even booked, though a penalty was awarded and James Milner converted it to gve Villa a 1-0 lead. United went on to comeback and win the game 2-1 and O'Neill believes the decision changed the outcome of the match, admitting he could not understand the referee's choice.

"I think it would be universally accepted they should have been down to 10 men,'' O'Neill told BBC One. "There's no other decision to make. It's not a good decision by an otherwise fine referee. It's the major point of the match. In two or three weeks it's forgotten and the trophy's on their mantlepiece, but it's a poor decision.''

However, Vidic himself stated after the match that the referee had got the decision not to give him a red card spot on.

"I can react better but Agbonlahor did well," Vidic said. "I don't think it was a red card because I got in front of him, not behind. If I had got behind then yes. It's always nice to win big games but it was hard. They played with two forwards but I thought we deserved it.''

Despite the disappointing nature of the defeat, O'Neill backed his side to recover and book another Wembley date in the FA Cup final.

"It's hard to take,'' he said. "I thought we played splendidly, particularly in the first half, and got in front. Manchester United got the equaliser but at half-time I felt we were very, very capable of winning.

"I'm disappointed for the team but they're resilient, they're strong, they're young and they'll fight back. We felt we were capable no matter what side they played. We have to try and get back here again in May because it's a worthwhile journey.''

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