Mixed emotions for Bilic after Villa draw
Slaven Bilic feels a draw was the right outcome for Saturday's clash between West Ham and Aston Villa, but was nonetheless left frustrated.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic believes Saturday's 1-1 Premier League draw with Aston Villa was a fair result, but feels they should have done better after going 1-0 up before the break.
Aaron Cresswell gifted the Hammers the lead in the 45th minute with a sublime finish, but Bilic's men eventually had to settle for a point following Jordan Ayew's equaliser from the spot.
The draw - West Ham's fifth in succession - means Bilic's side have now gone eight league games without a win, and the Croatian was disappointed not to hold on having gone in front.
"It's mixed emotions for us. When you are leading 1-0 at half-time against a team which is fighting for their lives and nervous, you expect to win the game," he said.
"They scored a penalty and then got the momentum so it was a fair point.
"With the injuries and everything that happened we showed good character. We got a point away from home which is good. Hopefully we will have a few players back very soon."
Referee Mike Dean awarded Villa a penalty after a duel between Angelo Ogbonna and Rudy Gestede, much to the frustration of Bilic, who feels West Ham should have been given a free-kick instead.
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Bilic also felt his side perhaps deserved a spot-kick of their own when Ashley Westwood seemed to handle the ball late on.
"I am not happy with that of course. From my point of view I saw Gestede was pulling Ogbonna's shirt. With that it gained him an advantage and he got in front of Angelo. For me it was a foul," Bilic added.
"He gave a penalty, but if he gave that he should have given a penalty for one of the handballs for us."