Villa in a rage
Grealish booked for diving as referee rules out ‘equaliser’ at Palace
Dean Smith, the Aston Villa manager, was left incensed after his side were denied an added-time equaliser in another video assistant referee controversy that sparked angry scenes among the travelling support.
Villa, who had been reduced to 10 men after the 54th-minute dismissal of Trezeguet for a second yellow card, were trailing to Jordan Ayew’s 73rdminute goal when Henri Lansbury’s effort in the sixth minute of added time was ruled out by referee Kevin Friend, who adjudged Jack Grealish to have dived in the immediate build-up.
The visitors continued to protest the decision after the final whistle and there were violent scenes in the away end, where a policeman was pictured with a baton raised. There appeared to be scuffles between stewards and supporters, while visiting players appealed to their own fans for calm.
Smith admitted he was bewildered by the decision. “I think everyone else’s view was good goal,” he said. “I spoke in the week about VAR and subjective decisions, but that system is meant to right wrongs. I wondered what I’d be like when it went against me.”
Grealish ran past challenges from Wilfried Zaha and Gary Cahill into the penalty area before going to ground. The ball rolled to Lansbury, who shot into the net, but the match official called play back to penalise Grealish.
“He got a nudge from Zaha in the back,” Smith said. “As he offloads it, Cahill comes into the tackle as well. Simulation? No chance. I’ll probably get some waffle about the reasons, but it was a poor decision.”
The Premier League later clarified that VAR checked Friend’s decision to book Grealish in case the referee should have awarded a penalty rather than a free-kick against the Villa player. However, VAR was not used to rule on the goal itself as the whistle had been blown before the ball hit the net.
Roy Hodgson, the Crystal Palace manager, was keen not to get drawn into a debate about the incident. “Of course there’s controversy,” he said. “I’m very dissatisfied, really, that such a good performance where we really took the game to them and camped in their half has been reduced to whether the final decision was right or wrong.
“I accept his decision 100 per cent. I’m happy that he didn’t make another decision, of course, because it would have been a bitter blow to lose two points in the last minute when we could have been so far out of sight.”
Had Lansbury’s effort stood, Palace would have been forced to reflect on a number of missed chances. The dismissal of Trezeguet for a needless foul on Zaha, having been booked two minutes before half-time for a foul on Joel Ward, gave Hodgson’s side extra impetus, but it took Ayew’s curling shot after he had turned England call-up Tyrone Mings following a swift counter-attack to divide the teams.
Ayew, who had scored in Palace’s win at Manchester United the previous weekend, drew praise from his manager. “The number of times he does the tactical work for us, not just attacking but defending, too,” Hodgson said. “When he puts icing on that cake, then it’s happy days. For him in particular.”
For Smith, though, there was only frustration. “I didn’t understand the officials’ decision-making,” he said. “If you’re Jack Grealish, I’d be raging. He’s having his integrity questioned. He’s made a great run, laid it off for Henri Lansbury to score. Jack wasn’t even looking for a foul.”