Aston Villa controversy not seen in over 50 years after ‘Incredible’ moment v Club Brugge
Keith Hackett was stunned by the “Incredible” error from Tyrone Mings as Aston Villa crashed to a 1-0 defeat against Club Brugge on Wednesday.
The defender picked up the ball in his own box to concede a penalty on 7 November, which Hans Vanaken dispatched to hand the Belgians all three points in the Champions League.
Mings made his Champions League debut in the defeat, and it was only his second start after 14 months out injured with an ACL injury.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Hackett, an ex-FIFA referee and PGMOL chief, could not believe his eyes as the correct decision was awarded in the end.
“In the UEFA Champions League game Club Brugge v Aston Villa, we saw the home team deliver a shock win against an in-form Aston Villa after the most incredible error by Villa’s Tyrone Mings,” he said.
“One loss of concentration by Tyrone Mings saw him rather bizarrely pick up the ball after his goalkeeper had clearly restarted the game with a short pass goal kick directly to Mings.
“It was an incident that could easily have been missed by the referee who was making his usual way to the hallway line to monitor the dropping zone, anticipating that the ball was going to be kicked long by the home team goalkeeper.
“He and his colleagues were monitoring the re-start and witnessed what had taken place and the referee looking shocked walked towards the penalty area no doubt gathering his thoughts and checking with his colleagues what he had seen before pointing to the penalty mark.
Incredible Aston Villa controversy in Champions League
“It was the correct decision and proved to be very costly for Aston Villa who lost the game 1-0 having been favourites to win.
“In over fifty years of officiating at all levels of the game, I cannot recall a similar incident, and it will certainly be one that Tyrone Mings will not forget.
“Maintaining concentration is such an important criteria for match referees in their decision making and no doubt the manager of Aston Villa will review this with the club’s Sports Psychologist to ensure that his players never make such a huge error in the future.“
Unai Emery will want to forget quickly about the horror show in Belgium, with his Villa side still sitting pretty in eighth spot with nine points in four games.
The Villans take on Liverpool on 9 November, where Mings will likely return to the bench at Anfield ahead of the final international break of the year.
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