Quoted by Football Insider, Noel Whelan has launched an attack on Aston Villa after Sheffield United saw themselves denied a goal in their game at Villa Park after Michael Oliver's goal-line technology aid failed.

The Blades saw the ball cross the line from a free-kick towards the end of the first-half on Wednesday night and, normally, goal-line technology would have told Michael Oliver via his watch that a goal needed to be given.

However, the technology failed and no goal was given, despite it pretty clear to most - especially after watching at half-time - that the Blades had been done up.

Some calls have been made since that Villa should have given the Blades a goal as an act of sportsmanship, with some throwing back to the time Leeds gave Villa a goal in the Championship last season, a moment of great drama between the two at Elland Road.

And, for former Leeds player Whelan, Villa haven't covered themselves in glory:

“They got away with one, a massive one – whether they would have come back from that one, I’m not so sure but the football gods were shining down on them.

“That was just such a blatant goal, it’s quite frightening that VAR can’t intervene, the linesman was right in line with it, surely he must have seen it against the net inside the goal – I’m very, very puzzled as to the way it was handled quite frankly.

“There was a discussion with Danny Mills and Gabby Agbonlahor on Sky – very, very similar, if not the same scenario of fair play that Leeds United gave them last season.

“Very, very hypocritical, I don’t agree with Gabby Agbonlahor, I think what he was saying did not make any sense whatsoever.

“It’s exactly the same, there’s no difference – it’s still cheating, it’s still not being honest, at least Leeds can hold their head up high and say we were honest.”

The Verdict

Perhaps Villa should have given the Blades a goal but, at the same time, they will argue that they didn't see it at the time - even if they did - and with them fighting tooth and nail for survival, perhaps you can see why they tried to ignore it. Whether that's the right thing to do or not is certainly up for debate.

These things do even themselves out over a season, though, and Blades fans will hope that they see some good fortune go their way in the coming weeks, whilst Villa will hope that theirs hasn't been used up for the remainder of the campaign already.