Aston Villa receive new referee verdict as Nottingham Forest ‘nonsense’ slammed

Villa were subject to a controversial call when Morgan Rogers was impeded by Elliot Anderson

Aston Villa have been told that they should have been awarded a penalty in their 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest. Morgan Rogers was hauled to the ground in the penalty area by Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson just over half an hour into the game, however the referee did not award a spot kick and VAR did not intervene.

The Villa players all threw their hands up in unison at the time of the incident, and manager Unai Emery, who very rarely calls referees into question, said it was a “clear penalty” and a “massive mistake” from VAR.

Jhon Durán, the player of the moment, headed in John McGinn’s ball to give Emery’s team a 1-0 lead in the 63rd minute. However, they were unable to hold on as Forest equalized with three minutes remaining in regular time, thanks to a goal from Nikola Milenković. Anthony Elanga then scored the game-winning goal in the 93rd minute to put them in fourth place, three points ahead of Villa.

The Villans could have seized the lead in the game far sooner and things might have turned out differently than the dramatic finish that cost them the game if they had been given the penalty.

Keith Hackett, a former referee, has criticized PGMOL and its head, Howard Webb, over the decision.

“This is a clear holding offence that impacts on the attacking player,” Hackett, who refereed the 1981 FA Cup final, told Villa News .

“A penalty kick should have been awarded.

“To say that the holding offence did not impact on the player is abject nonsense. The referee Sam Barrott should have been sent to the screen to have a second look.

“Frankly the PGMOL under the leadership of Howard Webb needs to sort out the mess on holding that is continually going unpunished.”