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Dean Smith says he still doesn’t understand why Aston Villa’s tie against West Ham was ruled out, admitting the loss “hurts.”
Villa lost away from home for the first time this season when West Ham beat them at London Stadium.. The hosts scored early in both halves to seal the victory.
Villa had a chance of getting a result, with Ollie Watkins missing a penalty. Then, in injury time, the forward thought he had tied, but the VAR canceled his goal because part of his arm was slightly offside.
West Ham scored with their only two shots on goal, while Villa created more danger overall. It leaves Smith disappointed that he didn’t get a result, especially considering how Watkins’ goal was scored.
“It hurts because I thought we were better than all of them,” he said. BBC Sport. “Two lapses in concentration cost us two goals but we had enough chances to score more than two.
“I still don’t understand that illegal goal, you can’t put your arm in it but they know the laws better than I do. If it’s offside, I agree with that, but then it’s a shame. The only reason he’s going to be offside is because he’s fouled, so it’s a penalty.
“We know they were good from the set pieces, so it was a bad start, but I thought we reacted very well and the fact that they changed it at half-time told you that we were on our way. We had to keep Said Benrahma on the outside, but we allowed the cross. “
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Smith doesn’t care about results
Villa has now won just one of their last five games, a way that has seen them drop to 10th in the table.
They had been one of the first to set the pace in the Premier League, but their luck has since worsened. However, Smith is confident they are still playing well enough to get back on track.
“I do not worry [about results] not at all, ”he said. “After Leeds I was worried because we didn’t play very well, but we’ve done more than enough to win games. The performance levels have been really good.
“You watch tonight’s game and our expected goals would be uncontrollable. We have had bad decisions against us, but that happens. “
Smith also commented on a disagreement between the two dugouts, complaining that a West Ham staff member was targeting Jack Grealish.
“Someone was calling Jack a diver and a cheater,” he claimed. “I’m not talking about opposition players, so I don’t like opposition staff members talking about my players.”
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