Lee Hendrie reacts immediately to Aston Villa v Brighton controversy
Lee Hendrie believes Aston Villa should have been awarded a penalty after Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke fouled Morgan Rogers in the box on Monday.
Unai Emery’s side wanted a spot-kick after Van Hecke brought Rogers down in the penalty area with the scoreline reading 1-0 in the Seagulls’ favour around the half-hour mark at Villa Park on 30 December.
Speaking live on commentary, Hendrie thought the referee would award the hosts a penalty after he saw Rogers get the final touch on the ball.
“It’s just how close who gets the final touch”, he said on Premier League Production’s commentary (30 December, 8:15 pm).
“Morgan Rogers is certainly getting away from Van Hecke, I think he just gets that toe away from him. I feel this could be given.”
Hendrie added that Villa would be right to be furious after the VAR stuck with the on-field decision.
“That’s interesting because the more I look at it, Morgan Rogers gets a toe away from Van Hecke and that means stopping him in his tracks, doesn’t it?”, the pundit said.
“I think the follow-through might just bring him down. Aston Villa will be furious that’s not given.”
Morgan Rogers eventually wins penalty in Aston Villa v Brighton
Aston Villa did not trail for too long as Rogers went on to win a penalty for the hosts four minutes later.
Although the referee denied the shouts initially, he pointed to the spot after being called to review the incident on the screen by VAR.
Ollie Watkins, who came back into Emery’s starting XI after Jhon Duran’s sending-off in the 3-0 loss against Newcastle on Boxing Day (Thursday, 26 December), made no mistake from the spot and converted the spot-kick.
The England international, therefore, netted his first Premier League goal and pulled level for Aston Villa.
An early injury to Joao Pedro and the two VAR checks saw the officials add 12 minutes at the end of the first half.
It was an eventful opening 45 minutes as, apart from the two goals, three players, including Rogers and Tyrone Mings were shown a yellow card.
The scoreline reads 1-1 at half-time and it remains to be seen who can go on and claim all three points in Birmingham.
In other Aston Villa news, the Villans face FA action after what Damian Vidagany did.
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