Dean Smith, the manager of Aston Villa, has stated that the decision to dismiss Ezri Konsa for a professional foul against West Ham United was “wrong.”
With Aston Villa behind 2-1. The referee dismissed the prospect of a red card for Kortney Hause and sent Konsa off for an incident that occurred seconds later on the suggestion of VAR.
After Villa’s impressive performance despite being down to ten men. Two late goals from the Hammers clinched a decisive victory in the West Midlands.
While admitting that Hause should have been sent off for an elbow on Pablo Fornals. Smith has slammed the decision to send Konsa off for tripping Jarrod Bowen when he was the last man.
Smith stated on BBC Radio 5 Live:
“The red card was the wrong decision; the referee saw it in real-time. I asked him why and he said because he was in on goal and the ball was moving towards the goal. Clearly, it wasn’t.
“After that, the sending off galvanised us because we played well for 20 minutes after that. Kortney Hause could have been sent off but he wasn’t. They decided that wasn’t a red.“
Smith’s defence was a shambles as a result of the pattern of play that resulted in the red card. Kortney Hause caught Pablo Fornals in the face on the run. Before Konsa was booked for tripping Bowen on the edge of the box.
After reviewing both incidences. VAR determined that Hause had no case to answer. However, Konsa’s yellow card was escalated to red after referee Chris Kavanagh examined the monitor.
Ezri Konsa Red Card Being Quite The Talking Point for Aston Villa
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp said both Konsa and Hause could have been sent off for their individual incidents. Concurring with Smith that the eventual decision reached was harsh on Aston Villa.
Stating “I think it was a really harsh decision to send Konsa off,” Redknapp said. “By the letter of the law he’s denying a goalscoring opportunity, but when the pass is released by Antonio, Bowen is going away from goal.
“I like to see players kept on the pitch and the ball travelled more towards the corner flag than it did the goal. There’s an argument that Ashley Young wouldn’t have got across that quickly, but I don’t think it’s a red card, it’s a really harsh one.
“They both theoretically could have been red cards, absolutely. Hause’s one is a forearm smash, it’s dangerous, it endangered an opponent. But the first one was harsh.”
Currently, Aston Villa is in the 15th position on 10 points. This comes after the team has lost their last 4 games in the Premier League.
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