Robin van Persie details referee apology amid controversial moment vs Aston Villa
Robin van Persie was left fuming after Aston Villa secured a win away to Feyenoord.
Villa beat Feyenoord 2-0 in superb fashion, making it two wins from as many matches in the Europa League this season.
After links away from Villa, Emi Buendia scored his second goal of the season to send Unai Emery’s side on their way to take away three points.
John McGinn sealed the result, while the late Emi Martinez replacement, Marco Bizot, kept Feyenoord out with a stellar display.
Van Persie still had big problems at full-time as he vented his annoyance towards referee Rade Obrenovic at De Kuip.
Robin van Persie got an apology from Rade Obrenovic after Aston Villa win
Anel Ahmedhodzic brought down Ollie Watkins in the first half and somehow avoided picking up a red card after just 15 minutes.
Stiliyan Petrov was baffled by Obrenovic’s decision not to send the defender off for what was clearly a last-man challenge.
The home side later mirrored the Villans’ fury as Ayase Ueda’s header crossed the line despite the best efforts of Bizot.
The Slovenian official ruled this out as he spotted a foul in the build-up to the Japanese forward’s effort on goal.
This was much to the annoyance of van Persie, but he revealed to TNT Sports after the full-time whistle on 2 October that he received an apology from Obrenovic.
He said: “I don’t think that it was the right call because the referee was talking about a block. Apparently, someone blocked someone for Villa, that was not the case. So that was a clear goal for us in a really important moment from our side.
“The referee said sorry to me during half-time because I went to him and asked, ‘Can you explain what happened, because nothing happened?’ He said sorry, he thought that someone was blocked, but again, he said sorry a couple of times.“
Aston Villa deserved to win vs Feyenoord
The former Manchester United striker can complain all he likes, but decisions went against both sides on the night.
The picture would have been entirely different if Ahmedhodzic had been sent off, but he didn’t mention that at full-time.
It is fair to say that Ueda’s goal should have counted, but in the end, the result was a fair one regardless of that controversy.
Buendia and McGinn’s goals were excellent and came at the end of quality moments, which were lacking from the home side throughout.
At the end of the day, Villa didn’t let the decision that went against them affect them, but it clearly got under van Persie’s skin on the night.
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