The decision not to send off Nemanja Vidic in the Carling Cup final smacked of the referee bottling it. After awarding a penalty kick, Phil Dowd obviously felt it was too much to reduce Manchester United to ten men in the third minute of a final at Wembley.

It was a big decision alright, but an easy one and he probably knew within seconds it was a terrible mistake. The outcome of the game could have been completely different if Villa played against ten for 87 minutes like they should have done.

But James Milner’s penalty cushioned the blow and the challenge of beating United with eleven men was the objective from the start. Sometimes you hear people say teams score too early but no side should buy into that. Would they rather have the goal chalked off and start again at 0-0? An early strike should be a boost not a hindrance.

 

However, the timing of the goal gave United plenty of time to recover and of course Wayne Rooney made the difference. Having started the game so well, Villa badly faded and the way they attempted to retrieve it when they trailed 2-1 owed as much to their defeat as the referee did.

Villa used the sledge hammer approach, throwing Richard Dunne upfront as they desperately tried to force the game into extra-time. When you are trying to rescue your best chance of silverware in years you can understand why they were so eager, perhaps too eager, to claw their way back into it. But the time to do it is when there is literally seconds left on the clock.

There was nearly ten minutes, which is plenty of time to win the game never mind draw it, when Aston Villa went the direct route. In throwing so many bodies forward too soon, they became disjointed, lost cohesion and with the amount of space they left behind were more likely to go 3-1 down than to equalise.

It’s easier saying that than putting it into practice, but if you look at how their opponents have managed to score so many late goals over the years its because they know how to keep their shape and remain patient.

If Martin O’Neill and Villa want to emulate their rivals and win on the grand stage, then it’s a habit they need to start getting into, and at least the FA Cup will give them the opportunity to learn from their mistakes.