Chelsea 4 Aston Villa 4

ASTON Villa manager Martin O'Neill pointed the finger at Michael Ballack over a controversial penalty and condemned the performance of referee Phil Dowd during yesterday's thrilling 4-4 draw with Chelsea.

O'Neill is considering an appeal of the red card shown to Zat Knight on the stroke of half-time after claiming his player had made no contact with Ballack.

The Villa boss was also frustrated by the free-kick awarded for Martin Laursen's challenge on Joe Cole that was converted by Ballack to nudge Chelsea 4-3 ahead in the 88th minute, insisting Dowd's decision was influenced by the crowd.

He said: Zat Knight's sending off was a major moment.

I've seen it a couple of times now and while I'm aware that I have the benefit of replays I will look at it again.

I might appeal and we have until noon tomorrow to do so. It wasn't a penalty. The Chelsea player went over and there was no contact. That's my view.

The free-kick they got with three minutes to go was not a free-kick. It didn't look like it could be possible.

The referee was in a position to get that one right because he was on the spot.'' Gareth Barry fired an injurytime penalty to rescue a point for Villa after Chelsea left back Ashley Cole had been dismissed for handling Gabriel Agbonlahor's shot on the line.

The dismissal of Cole was one of three red cards in a thrilling contest full of talking points and controversy.

O'Neill said: Thank God the linesman saw the penalty on the line and we got something."

Shaun Maloney fired Villa into a deserved lead with a well-taken brace - the second courtesy of a terrible blunder by Chelsea keeper Petr Cech.

Knight's red card changed the game as Andriy Shevchenko inspired Chelsea's comeback, with the second of his two goals a stunning 25-yard effort.

The Ukraine striker set up Alex to put Chelsea 3-2 ahead before Martin Laursen equalised to set up the grandstand finish.

O'Neill said: We deserved nothing less than a draw. We were terrific.

We were 2-0 in front just before half-time, were playing brilliantly and deserved to be in front. We never gave up and came back from the dead twice.'' O'Neill insisted Chelsea could have no complaints at Ricardo Carvalho's red card for a vicious two-footed tackle on Agbonlahor.

He said: It was straight forward red card and he was the last man, even though Gabriel had 40- odd yards to go. It was a sending off offence.'' Chelsea boss Avram Grant refused to condemn Carvalho, despite the severity of the challenge.

He said: For me what's important is that Carvalho did not intend to hurt the player. I didn't see any intention.

It was the decision of the referee and I respect it.'' Frank Lampard limped off in the first half with a thigh problem while Cole and Carvalho are suspended for three matches after picking up red cards.

The trio have joined the injured Didier Drogba and John Terry on Chelsea's absentee list.

Chelsea began the day six points behind Premiership leaders Arsenal and yesterday's developments have dealt another blow.

Grant said: We can't give a diagnosis on Frank Lampard. We'll wait and see."