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Penalty fury in night of pride

ONE fateful moment of indecision took the edge off Villa's impressive UEFA Cup launch last night but left us with a first round tie which is intriguingly balanced.

Ron Atkinson's men emerged from a daunting visit to one of world football's most intimidating arenas with heads held high, optimistic of overturning a single-goal deficit in two weeks' time.

Only a controversial penalty 15 minutes from time denied them the opportunity of starting on level terms in the eagerly-awaited second leg at Villa Park.

Dutch star Dennis Bergkamp despatched his spot kick firmly past Nigel Spink but the goalkeeper is probably still arguing about the validity of the spot kick award.

Spink hotly disputed referee Peter Mikkelsen's judgement that he had hauled down Ruben Sosa as the Uruguayan striker darted into the penalty area.

Regardless of the apparent injustice of the decision, though, it was all the more annoying because Sosa was moving away from goal at the time and Spink's hesitancy meant he got to the ball a fraction too late.

Although the experienced keeper did well to hold a first half Bergkamp drive and push aside a skidding last minute drive from the former Ajax man.

Paul McGrath, magnificent as ever, never put a foot wrong at the heart of the defence.

And the Irishman's pivotal partner Ugo Ehiogu, growing in stature with every match, enjoyed a European debut which will long live in the memories of Villa's 1,000 travelling fans.

The England under-21 international, booked after just five minutes for a lunge at Bergkamp. stuck resolutely to his task and refused to he knocked out of his stride by that potentially catastrophic setback.

Ehiogu had one other awkward moment, Inter appealing strongly for a penalty when he collided with midfield danger man Nicola Berti after an hour.

A packed San Siro crowd may well have swayed the referee to point to the spot on that one. But with fewer than 23,000 in the ground, and most of Inter's vociferous fans seated at the other end, the moment passed with little more than a token appeal.

Inter, to be fair, really had Atkinson's boys on the ropes during a sustained spell of pressure after the break.

Villa's back four, though, rose to the challenge in considerable style, full-backs King and Earl Barrett proving equally as stubborn as their central counterparts.

It was Inter's Italian international Gianluca Pagliuca who had to make the two best saves of the match. Pagliuca, fresh from Sampdoria this summer, reacted instinctively to turn aside Staunton's 28th minute piledriver after an inviting John Fashanu lay-off.

And when the busy, hustling Dean Saunders shrugged off Gianluca Festa's challenge nine minutes from time. Pagliuca produced an even more spectacular leap to push the Welsh wizard's fierce shot for a corner.

Barrett was also close near the end, only just failing to make proper contact with a header when Staunton's freekick found him right in front of goal.

If the Italians are equally uninhibited in the return at Villa Park and Atkinson's side can rise to the occasion - it should be a night to remember, whatever the outcome.