Friedel disappointed with ’sloppy’ goal

7981904 Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel was more concerned with conceding a “sloppy” goal than making it 200 consecutive Premier League appearances in Saturday’s draw with Everton.

The 38-year-old extended his remarkable run by making it a double century of outings but insisted his priority is clean sheets, not records.

And the evergreen American admitted he was disappointed by the timing of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov’s goal in first-half injury time.

He said: “Because the record was broken some time ago I had to be reminded of it, but I seriously don’t pay attention to the numbers game.

“I didn’t find out about this until it was mentioned to me earlier this week. Will I be keeping the gloves? The only mementos I keep are league debut shirts.

“It is fantastic that someone can achieve something like that, but I am more worried about getting points on the board and keeping myself fit and available for selection as opposed to building on a record.

“It was a bit of a sloppy goal to concede and it was bit strange because, especially with the new signings, we are very resilient at the back.”

Substitute John Carew levelled for Villa within a minute of the restart and the forward was delighted to get off the mark in the Premier League for the season.

He said: “It’s always good to open your account in the league. It’s a good point, because it’s always a battle when we come here and one of the most difficult games of the season.

“It was nice to come in and make the difference. We were hoping and believing we could get three points but we have to be happy with a point.”

Stephen Warnock played his part in the equaliser, crossing for Gabby Agbonlahor whose shot was parried into the path of Carew.

The former Liverpool left-back admitted it was an extra special moment because his family were watching in the crowd.

Warnock said: “I’m a red, my brother and my dad are blue and my mum’s a red. They were there but they were celebrating when we scored because I ran over and saw them.

“My dad was celebrating so that was good. “

See Also:

This article was posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 10:00 am.
View more articles about: gabby agbonlahor, john carew, league debut, liverpool, premier league, villa.