Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill accused his side of over-confidence as they surrendered a two-goal lead against Stoke in the final three minutes at Villa Park.
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill accused his side of over-confidence as they surrendered a two-goal lead against Stoke in the final three minutes at Villa Park.
Villa looked to be coasting to victory and an eight-point lead over fifth-placed Arsenal after goals from Stiliyan Petrov and John Carew had put them in total command.
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Aston Villa's John Carew (right) celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's second goal during an EPL match against Stoke City at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, yesterday. pics/AP |
But Stoke, who had posed a bigger threat after the introduction of substitute Ricardo Fuller, stunned the home side with late strikes from Ryan Shawcross and Glenn Whelan.
It means Villa have won only five of their 14 home games this season compared with 10 victories in 13 matches away from Villa Park.
O'Neill said, "We were more than disappointed in the dressing room afterwards. In fact, everyone was devastated.
"We were in total control at 2-0 and with five minutes to go you should be able to see a game out.
"It didn't materialise and we have dropped two points. For the first time today I thought there was a degree of over-confidence about us.
"I just felt, having got the second goal, we should have been able to read the situation better and what might develop in the last couple of minutes.
"Once or twice we were still looking to play the sort of intricate football that got us 2-0 up instead of seeing the game out. It is a real disappointment."
