Richard Keys rages at ‘nonsense’ Aston Villa delay vs Fulham after controversy emerges
Aston Villa secured their first Premier League win of the season by beating Fulham 3-1 on Sunday afternoon.
The Villans had endured an awful start to the new league campaign, having netted just one goal from their opening five games, but they secured an invaluable three points against the Cottagers.
Ollie Watkins has struggled for confidence at Aston Villa this season, but he finally notched his first goal of the season with an excellent lob over Bernd Leno to draw his side level in the latter stages of the first half.
Second-half goals from John McGinn and Emi Buendia secured the three points for Unai Emery’s side, but it was not a game short of controversies.
Richard Keys blames John McGinn amid VAR intervention
Aston Villa fell behind to Fulham in just the third minute of Sunday’s clash, when Raul Jimenez glanced home a header from a corner to out the visitors ahead.
Ex-Villa striker Chris Sutton was left frustrated by the defending from his former side on the set piece, but they were almost handed a reprieve by a VAR review of the goal.
The Stockley Park team had several looks at the goal, paying close attention to a tangle between McGinn and Fulham’s Sander Berge as the ball was delivered into the box.
VAR ultimately decided that there was no offence committed by the Fulham man, and as such, they advised referee Andy Madley to stick with the initial decision and award the goal.
However, the incident has angered Richard Keys, who feels that it was unnecessary for the delay to have taken so long.
The presenter referred to the VAR delay as “nonsense” in a post on his X account, and also added that he felt McGinn was the player who was at fault in the altercation.
This week should be pivotal for Aston Villa
Emery’s situation at Aston Villa has seemingly worsened with every passing game in recent weeks, but the victory over Fulham has to be a turning point for his team.
The second city outfit have been far from perfect in their two performances against Bologna and Fulham this week, but they have pulled through with two crucial wins.
Their first wins of the season could not have come at a better moment, with their Europa League campaign also beginning to gather pace, and they have to be used as a springboard to improve moving forward.
Emery and Co. now have to ensure that they can begin to rediscover their confidence in the coming games, and they have the perfect opportunity to notch another victory next weekend against Burnley.
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