Michael Ballack has defended himself against accusations of diving to win a penalty in Chelsea's 4-4 draw with Aston Villa. The first major turning point of a pulsating game came when Chelsea were awarded a spot-kick for a foul by Zat Znight on Ballack, with the score at 2-0 to Villa. Knight was sent off, Andrei Shevchenko slotted home the penalty and Chelsea came back to take a point. Martin O'Neill later questioned Phil Dowd's decision to dismiss Knight and give Chelsea a penalty. The Villa boss said: "It wasn't a penalty. The Chelsea player went over and there had been no contact."
However, Ballack believes the correct decision was made and has insisted the Villa defender knocked him over. "For me there is no discussion about this," the German told the London Evening Standard. "I had the ball and two guys, not just one, came and one pushed me. It was a clear penalty."
