Alex Song felt West Ham United were hard done by in both penalty areas during Saturday’s 1-1 Barclays Premier League stalemate at Villa Park.
The No4, who replaced goalscorer Aaron Cresswell with quarter of an hour to play, was aggrieved to see Mike Dean penalise Angelo Ogbonna for a coming together with Rudi Gestede and then saw penalty appeals of his own dismissed when Ashley Westwood appeared to handle late on.
Mark Noble had earlier had similar claims for a spot-kick waved away and, all in all, Song was left with the impression that on another day, the Hammers might well have departed Villa Park with all three points.
The No4, who replaced goalscorer Aaron Cresswell with quarter of an hour to play, was aggrieved to see Mike Dean penalise Angelo Ogbonna for a coming together with Rudi Gestede and then saw penalty appeals of his own dismissed when Ashley Westwood appeared to handle late on.
Mark Noble had earlier had similar claims for a spot-kick waved away and, all in all, Song was left with the impression that on another day, the Hammers might well have departed Villa Park with all three points.
“Am I satisfied with a point? I would say no,” he confirmed. “With the penalty decision, I think there was a foul before Angelo [Ogbonna] committed the foul. But the referee made the decision and we have to accept it.
“I controlled the ball, I moved forward and I saw the players in front of me. So I decided to shift it and it touched his arm. Unfortunately for me the referee’s not seen it. Afterwards you have to carry on working. I don’t want to make excuses but I think we should have won the game.”
The point keeps Remi Garde’s Villa rooted to the foot of the Premier League table, but Song, who was sporting protective goggles for the first time, said he saw plenty on Boxing Day to suggest the Villans are far better than their lowly position suggests.
He continued: “Of course we expected a tough match like that. It’s Boxing Day, that’s what happens! They showed today that frankly they don’t deserve to be in this position.
“They pushed, they tried to get the three points, but we held them off and, in the end, I think it’s a shame that we’ve not won the match.”
As Song knows only too well, there is little time to stew on Saturday’s happenings, with Southampton set to visit the Boleyn Ground on Monday. The former Arsenal man is well versed with England’s atypical festive football traditions and has set his sights on three points against the Saints.
“It’s non-stop, we’re used to it. That’s England, you don’t get time!” We’ve got to rest up and be ready for Monday because it’s an important home match for us.
“We have to win, we have to get back to winning ways and, particularly after Saturday’s result, we have to give everything to win the game against Southampton.”