Brad Friedel has questioned whether officials "have a hard time making big decisions against big teams" after Aston Villa were denied a penalty against Chelsea in their FA Cup semi-final, reports The Sun. It was the second time Martin O'Neill's side felt they had been on the receiving end of wrong refereeing decisions on showpiece occasions at Wembley this season.
Boss O'Neill was left fuming again yesterday after Agbonlahor was brought down by Blues defender John Obi Mikel and denied a penalty by referee Howard Webb.
Even Chelsea skipper John Terry conceded that Villa should have been awarded a spot-kick before Carlo Ancelotti's side went on to win via second-half goals from Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda and Frank Lampard.
Villa keeper Friedel said: "Once again we were hard done by with a refereeing decision.
"This also occurred in the Carling Cup final against Manchester United. It makes you wonder if referees have a hard time making the big decision against big teams on the big stage."
He added: "I thought we played really well against Chelsea and showed a lot of character - especially after the lack of character we showed the last time out against Chelsea.
"We matched them in every department. We were really unlucky with the first goal and we can walk away with our heads held high but being bitterly disappointed with the result.
"John Terry mis-hit his shot which led to their opening goal and their two late goals came about as we were pushing forward to get an equaliser.
"But now we have to move on from this match. We now have an important game on Wednesday night against Everton.
"We don't have time to really to think about it because we have to get three points on Wednesday."