Spoils shared as Angel turns villain

Aston Villa 1 Bolton 1

Angel had brought Villa back on terms with a superb goal his seventh of the campaign to cancel out Kevin Nolan's effort at the start of the second-half.

But he went from hero to villain after Ivan Campo had been adjudged to have fouled him when Jaaskelainen kept out his spot-kick away to his left.

Villa dominated the second 45 minutes in terms of possession, but Bolton held firm, with Simon Charlton a solid performer in their back four.

Bolton manager Sam Allardyce is calling for referee supremos Philip Don and Keith Hackett to allow officials to use "common sense" after five more of his players were booked.

Allardyce was upset with match referee Rob Styles for awarding a penalty against Ivan Campo for a challenge on Angel, although that was tempered by Jussi Jaaskelainen's fine save.

But the brunt of his anger is directed at Don and Hackett for putting referees under pressure to produce yellow and reds without being able to use any discretion.

Allardyce said: "It was certainly not a penalty. Styles was in a fantastic spot to know that both players were tugging and pulling at each other.

"But in terms of the number of cards, Rob Styles has to ref as he is told. He has to do that because he is told to referee that way. I'm disgusted by the number of cards being shown generally in every single game and all you are going to do is stop the best players from playing.

"People are spending £25 to £30 a game and they are not going to see the stars. It certainly doesn't happen in Europe so they can't hide in this country behind FIFA, because the same sort of thing doesn't happen everywhere else.

"Refs should be allowed to show common sense and not be put under pressure and go into games thinking 'I must book this player because if I don't I may have my marks deducted'.

"The guidelines come from whoever is running the referee's department, Philip Don and keith Hackett. They have the responsibility to oversee what is happening and they should listen to everyone else in football. They should take notice but I don't think they are."

Villa manager David O'Leary admitted it would have been daylight robbery had his side come away with three points.

He said: "The result was fair. It would have been a get-out-of-jail scenario if we had collected all three points. It was a poor game, particularly in the first half and we know we can play a lot better than that."

ASTON VILLA: Sorensen (Postma 45), Delaney, Mellberg, Alpay, Samuel, Hendrie, McCann, Barry, Whittingham (Allback 56), Vassell, Angel.

BOLTON: Jaaskelainen, N'Gotty, Charlton, Thome, Gardner, Nolan (Jardel 80), Campo, Frandsen, Okocha, Davies, Giannakopoulos (Little 90).

Referee: R Styles (Hampshire).