Martin O'Neill, the manager of Aston Villa, has been charged with improper conduct by the FA following the defeat by Manchester United on Sunday.

O'Neill went onto the Old Trafford pitch after the final whistle to confront Mike Riley, the referee, about key decisions that he felt had been incorrect. The FA have confirmed that it was his action in going onto the field that had attracted the charge rather than comments he made afterwards.

O'Neill, who has until April 27th to respond to the charge, was critical of refereeing decisions during the match, in which Villa had led 2-1 only to lose 3-2, Federico Mancheda, the 17-year-old substitute scoring the winner in stoppage time.

O'Neill claimed that Riley had failed to spot a foul on Ashley Young in the build-up to Macheda's winner, and said: "The officials also got three offside decisions wrong when we were clean through."