West Ham boss Slaven Bilic: What's the point in moaning about Aston Villa's penalty?

Tight lipped: Bilic does not see the benefit in questioning the referee's decision
Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Sam Long26 December 2015

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has claimed there is no point moaning about Mike Dean's decision to award Aston Villa a penalty during today's 1-1 draw between the two sides.

The east Londoners looked set to end their winless streak after Aaron Cresswell gave the visitors the lead at Villa Park, courtesy of a fine strike, but they were unable to hang onto their advantage and see the game out.

Jordan Ayew fired home an equaliser for Remi Garde's strugglers from the penalty spot but the Hammers were aggrieved the spot kick was awarded in the first place.

Bilic admitted he thought Angelo Ogbonna had been fouled in the build-up prior to the penalty but refused to use bad luck as an excuse after his team slumped to their fifth consecutive Premier League draw.

"For me, I had a good angle and Ogbonna was in front of [Rudy] Gestede," Bilic told the club's official website.

"The only reason Gestede came in front of Ogbonna is that he pulled his shirt.

"It's not just a quick one, it lasted, so for me it was a foul. But then he's given a penalty, and then there's been a couple of handballs which at least one should have been rewarded with a penalty.

"We didn't, we can't change it. We can moan, but what's the point of that?"

Although the Croatian coach was disappointed not to claim all three points against a team that is fighting relegation he is adamant that the point West Ham can take home from the west Midlands is a "good one".

"Before the game we are looking to win it, and especially at half-time when we are 1-0 up.

What does January hold for West Ham?

1/3

"Of course we knew they would come at us, but we hoped we could frustrate them by keeping the ball or hurt them with the space behind.

"Unfortunately we didn't do it and they were awarded a penalty which gave them a lift. To be fair, when you consider the whole situation with injuries before the game, and even during the game, we will take the point as a good one away from home."

West Ham host Southampton in two days time aiming to secure their first victory in nine Premier League fixtures.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in