BLACKBURN Rovers manager Mark Hughes staged his own firework display at Villa Park after Rovers suffered more penalty heartache in the Premiership.

The irate Rovers boss blew a fuse when referee Howard Webb controversially awarded Aston Villa a first half penalty following an alleged handling offence by the hapless Andre Ooijer.

Hughes has now seen Rovers concede a staggering six penalties this season, and this latest one was possibly the harshest yet.

Chris Sutton's driven cross appeared to strike Ooijer near the shoulder as the Dutchman defended an attack in the 39th minute.

No Villa player appeared to protest, and Webb seemed content to wave play on, until he caught sight of his assistant, Richard West, who had started flagging frantically for a penalty.

Suddenly, the referee pointed to the spot and Gareth Barry gratefully accepted the gift, blasting the ball emphatically past Brad Friedel with unerring accuracy to put Villa in command.

It proved to be turning point in a game that had been a damp squib until that moment, and Villa then added further fuel to the fire by grabbing a second five minutes into the second half, courtesy of their Columbian hit-man Juan Pablo Angel.

Hughes made little attempt to hide his rage in the post-match press conference, the Rovers boss angrily pointing an accusing finger in the direction of the match officials.

There was clearly no intent on Ooijer's part, and any contact was ball to hand rather than hand to ball, but, crucially, Mr West saw it differently and Rovers paid the penalty.

Not for the first time this term.

"We've conceded a number of penalties," said Hughes.

"Some of them were correct decisions. Today, it was an incorrect decision.

"A number of big decisions have gone against us and they're decisions referees need to get right.

"But he didn't get it right, and that's the disappointment from our point of view.

"These are match-changing decisions and you want the referees to be absolutely certain in their own mind that it's a definite penalty.

"I think today with the one that was given, there was a real doubt it was a definite penalty."

Hughes' sense of injustice was all the greater given that Rovers had had a similar claim turned down by Mr Webb and his assistants.

Morten Gamst Pedersen's free kick clearly struck Stiliyan Petrov on the arm but that offence went unpunished, much to Hughes' obvious annoyance.

While those two penalty decisions ultimately played a big part in deciding the destiny of the points, they did not disguise the fact that Rovers' performance hardly merited any reward here.

The visitors looked flat and short on ideas going forward as they slumped to a third successive Premiership defeat.

Hughes named the same side that started Thursday night's UEFA Cup tie with FC Basel, so Franny Jeffers had to be content with a place on the bench, despite his late goal against the Swiss.

Villa boss Martin O'Neill, meanwhile, handed former Blackburn favourite Chris Sutton his first start since he signed for the club on a free transfer earlier this season.

The first chance of the afternoon fell to Sutton's former Celtic team-mate Petrov in the ninth minute.

The Bulgarian cleverly made a yard of space for himself on the edge of the penalty area before unleashing a shot that took a deflection on its way past Friedel's right-hand post.

From the resulting corner, Martin Laursen dragged another effort wide, then a Gareth Barry free kick sailed high and wide.

In contrast, Rovers offered precious little going forward in a scrappy opening half hour as they displayed all the signs of a side still feeling the effects of an exhausting night in Europe.

Hughes became increasingly agitated with each misplaced pass, and there was precious little spark to Rovers' play, particularly in midfield, where the human jump-lead, Robbie Savage, was sorely missed.

Rovers threatened just once in the opening 45 minutes.

Thomas Sorensen had to react sharply to tip over a fizzing drive from David Bentley after Shabani Nonda had cleverly dummied Michael Gray's square pass.

But that was as good as it got for the visitors before Villa took the lead courtesy of Barry's controversially awarded penalty in the 39th minute.

From then on, Villa had their tails up and they might have extended their lead before the break had Petrov managed to get a toe on Gabriel Agbonlahor's mouthwatering cross.

Rovers showed signs of improvement immediately after the break, but any thoughts of a comeback were well and truly crushed when Khizanishvili committed defensive suicide in the 50th minute.

Gray put the Georgian under unnecessary pressure when he laid the ball off to him on the edge of the penalty area.

Even then, Khizanishvili still had time to clear, but instead he fatally took an extra touch and was promptly dispossessed by Angel, who strode forward unchallenged and rammed a low shot past Friedel. Game over.

The match fizzled out after that and Rovers never looked like retrieving the situation.

More fire will be needed against Manchester United on Saturday if Rovers are to stop the Fergie juggernaut in its tracks.

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