Ashley Young relieved after penalty u-turn secures Aston Villa's victory

Dec 31 2008 by Bill Howell, Birmingham Mail

and said ‘look, it was nowhere near his hand. What’s going on?’” said Barry.

“They had a conversation, I’m not sure they even listened to me but the right decision was made in the end.

“I’m glad he changed his mind because it would have been easier to have just stuck with the initial decision.”

Villa boss Martin O’Neill expressed his relief.

“The last few games have been extraordinary at the end but this should have been mundane,” he said.

“It wasn’t a penalty, the referee thought Ashley Young had put his hand in the air, he gave the penalty but great credit to him.

“He went to see the linesman and the linesman said it hit the bar.

“I’m delighted the right decision has been made and pleased we’ve won.”

Regarding Young’s part in the proceedings, O’Neill added: “It’s not often I’m not pleased with Ashley Young. I would have been pretty disturbed with him.

“He is so brilliant for us. He said he won’t do it again and I hope that is a promise, not a threat.”

The win saw Villa leapfrog Arsenal into fourth place.

“It was a great win,” said O’Neill. “We just keeping putting pressure on the sides around us.”