Matty Cash branded a ‘coward’ for foul on Rodrigo Bentancur in miserable half as Aston Villa win at Tottenham
Unai Emery saw his Aston Villa side come away from their trip to Tottenham with a crucial 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Pau Torres and Ollie Watkins.
But it could have been very different if the Villans boss’ decision to start Matty Cash on the right of midfield on Sunday (26 November) had been punished, as the 26-year-old turned in a miserable 45 minutes before the Spaniard rectified the mistake.
Cash was hooked at half time after failing to aid in the attacking areas and nearly undercutting the defensive performance with an early sending off for a foul on Rodrigo Bentancur.
Moments after Giovani Lo Celso’s opener appeared to have been cancelled out by a Watkins header until a VAR review chalked off the striker’s goal, Cash lunged in on the Spurs man high up the pitch and received a booking, in a challenge which Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith also said there was “no excuse for” and saw the Argentine soon go off injured.
Times journalist Martin Hardy blasted the Poland international for the tackle, writing on Twitter: “What a coward’s challenge that is from Matty Cash. I’d make them a straight red.
“Bentancur goes off because of it. Just back from an ACL as well. Great game, shocking tackle.”
Cash still almost got himself sent off again for a later foul on Destiny Udogie, which Smith termed a “dangerous” challenge on the Sky Sports commentary when already on a booking, so it was no surprise to see the regular right-back replaced at the interval by Leon Bailey.
According to stats from SofaScore the two challenges were two thirds of his three fouls committed in the first half at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where Cash also won just 33% of his ground duels (two of six), and lost possession six times in an opening period where Spurs threatened regularly but only scored once.
A single clearance, tackle and interception each were the sum of the Aston Villa man’s positive contributions, as he also failed to find a target with any of his one cross, one long-pass or single shot.
He completed just 63% of his passes in that time (six of 13) and didn’t make a single key pass, in a display which risked undercutting a rousing come-from-behind victory that sent Villa into the top four before it ever got started.
In other Aston Villa news, a BBC pundit fears a star attacker being tempted away by a European giant.