Revealed: What Matty Cash said to Rodrigo Bentancur after shock incident in Aston Villa win v Tottenham
We’re delighted to welcome former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Villa Park…
Matty Cash was regretful of his first-half challenge on Rodrigo Bentancur as Aston Villa won at Tottenham on Sunday, according to Alan Hutton.
Bentancur, 26, was making his first start for Spurs since February in the Premier League clash in North London but the Uruguayan was forced off after just 32 minutes due to an ugly tackle by Cash.
The 26-year-old Poland international was booked for the late challenge and later avoided a second yellow card before being substituted off at halftime by Unai Emery.
Cash was subjected to a lot of boos from Tottenham fans for causing Bentancur to go off and Hutton believes that when the reality of his challenge dawned on the right-back, it made him struggle to perform and also show regret towards the Spurs midfielder.
Speaking to Villa News, Hutton said: “It’s not ideal.
“Matty Cash has got that kind of [challenge] in the locker. It’s late and it’s from the back, making it an opportunity to injure somebody and that’s what happened.
“You feel for Bentancur because he’s been out for so long and he had to go off with an injury.
“I could tell from Matty Cash after he made the tackle that he knew it wasn’t great. He went and apologised a few times and you could tell in his performance that it affected him a little bit.
“But it happens in football. You’re going to see it week after week after week. It is what it is. It’s just part of it, unfortunately.”
Cash is now one yellow card away from a one-match suspension in the Premier League.
In other Aston Villa news, it is “done” for this central midfielder to quit Villa Park with a permanent transfer deal already agreed.