‘Morgan Rogers should have been sent off for Aston Villa vs Bournemouth – Laws needing changing now’
Morgan Rogers had a major escape as Aston Villa got back to winning ways against Bournemouth.
After Liverpool ended Aston Villa’s winning run last weekend it was exactly what Unai Emery would have hoped for at Villa Park on Sunday.
Aston Villa blew Bournemouth away 4-0 behind excellent performances from the likes of Emi Buendia in attack and Emi Martinez in goal, with the goals from Buendia, Amadou Onana, Ross Barkley and Donyell Malen.
But Rogers escaped with just a booking early in the match after a potentially-dangerous challenge on Evanilson.
The England star, who also escaped putting the result in danger when his handball was penalised for a penalty which was then brilliantly saved by Martinez in the Aston Villa goal, caught the Cherries striker late as he looked to break away on a counter-attack in the 13th minute, standing on the back of his ankle.
Keith Hackett slams Morgan Rogers foul on Evanilson
John Brooks waited until Buendia had tracked Marcus Tavernier all the way back to the Aston Villa box before booking Rogers while Evanilson stayed down receiving treatment.
Former Premier League referee and ex-PGMOL chief Keith Hackett has slammed the decision not to send the Villans star off, highlighting how dangerous such challenges can be.
He has called for the officiating governing body to change their laws in order to ensure the sort of foul seen at Villa Park is punished heavily.
He exclusively told Villa News: “The Achilles area for any player is very vulnerable. It is sad that the PGMOL judge these foul challenges as reckless only.
“My opinion is that a yellow card is insufficient the challenge endangering the safety of his opponent.
“These need to be completely outlawed by the authorities and it requires a change in emphasis by the PGMOL to sanction this type of challenge more severely.
“Red card is what I would like to see.”
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Aston Villa take full advantage of Morgan Rogers reprieves
So early in the game potential red cards are often overlooked, with officials seemingly reluctant to tilt the game so heavily.
There hardly looked to be any malice in the challenge from Rogers, but it was late and had it come shortly into the second half rather than the first it might have been adjudged differently by Brooks.
Ultimately Emery’s men took the let-off they’d been afforded and made the most of it, as Buendia spearheaded the first-half performance and scored from a free kick, before Onana smashed home a low second.
Overall it was an excellent team performance from the Villans, but it still took superb work in goal from Martinez to keep things on track.
The World Cup winner was at his imperious best, tipping a looping Alex Scott attempt over the bar with the score at 2-0, before sparing Rogers’ blushes with a high-quality penalty save from Antoine Semenyo. Substitutes Barkley and Malen then made the points safe to lift Villa up to seventh.
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