John McGinn insists he and his Aston Villa team-mates need to move on after being left “extremely disappointed” by a controversial call which saw a late equaliser at Crystal Palace ruled out.
Palace secured a narrow 1-0 win against a Villa side which played for over half an hour with 10 men at Selhurst Park following the sending off of Trezeguet.
Jordan Ayew hit the only goal of the game but the visitors thought they had snatched a late point when substitute Henri Lansbury fired home deep into stoppage time.
Instead, referee Kevin Friend pulled play back and booked indignant Villa captain Jack Grealish for simulation, with VAR then looking at the challenge before deeming the on-field official had made no clear and obvious error.
Because they had looked at that call it meant the goal would not count and so that decision was taken out of the hands of the VAR at Stockley Park.
Villa boss Dean Smith criticised the call after the game and McGinn agreed with his manager – although he admits the players now have to accept the decision.
“The word that keeps cropping up is frustration,” he told the club’s official website.
“When you play the way we did, you just feel you deserve something from the game. We’re obviously extremely disappointed. We just feel it should have counted.
“We will try and take it on the chin. We have watched it back and it just speaks for itself. There’s not much more to say.
“The attitude and industry we showed was different class. Over the game, I thought it did deserve a point.
“To create as good a chance as we did at the end and have it taken away, it’s tough to take. But we can take heart from the performance.”
The victory for Palace came on the back of their first-ever Premier League win at Manchester United.
Ayew, who opened the scoring at Old Trafford, would ultimately earn another three points against one of his former clubs with his well-taken second-half winner on Saturday.
The 27-year-old joined Palace from Swansea in the summer having spent last season on loan with the Eagles – where he managed just one league goal.
He offered thanks to chairman Steve Parish and everyone involved with Palace for backing him after a fairly unsuccessful first season with the club and intends to keep pushing on as the campaign progresses.
“Since I came to this football club, the staff, chairman, everyone are motivating me,” he said.
“So even if I had a difficult year last season, they still trust in me and they signed me this year. The thing I have to do is pay them back on the pitch and that’s what I try to do.
“I work hard every day and now it’s paying off. I hope it continues. It’s one step at a time and we’ll just continue. It’s the beginning of the season and we just keep on doing the basics right and get rewarded.”
