Garde unhappy with penalty call in Villa draw

Aston Villa manager Remi Garde felt his side were unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty during the second half of their 1-1 draw with Premier League leaders Leicester City.

Villa won for the first time since the opening day of the season when they beat Crystal Palace 1-0 in midweek, but his team were well off the pace during the first half at Villa Park as Shinji Okazaki hit a 28th-minute opener.

Riyad Mahrez then missed a penalty for Claudio Ranieri’s men and Villa, apparently buoyed by that let-off, battled back to score a deserved equaliser through substitute Rudy Gestede 15 minutes from time – albeit amid suspicions of handball.

But before that break from the officials fell their way, Garde believed Villa should have been awarded a spot-kick of their own when City defender Robert Huth caught Libor Kozak with a flailing arm.

“We were not very fortunate,” he told Sky Sports. “I don’t understand how the linesman can see the first penalty but not the second. 

“I saw it on the TV and it was obvious for me and probably for everybody.”

Villa remain rooted to the foot of the table and nine points from safety, but Garde has been boosted by his team’s character over the past week.

“In the first half we were not the same level as Tuesday against Crystal Palace, but the second half was much better,” he said.

“We had a good reaction. We were behind the leader and when you come back to draw it is very positive for the bottom team.

“We were more aggressive, more positive and more attacking as well.

“If you look at the level of the game between the teams there was not the huge gap you can see on the table.”