Andy Townsend aghast at incident in Aston Villa loss vs Arsenal – ‘How on earth?’
Andy Townsend could not believe Darren England’s officiating in Aston Villa’s loss to Arsenal on Tuesday.
Villa were beaten 4-1 by Arsenal at Emirates Stadium in a match that had hopes of winning the Premier League title riding on it.
Unai Emery’s side were on an 11-game winning streak heading into the clash, as the Villans proved they have the spirit to come back on more than one occasion during this run.
The Villa head coach may have been upset with Emi Martinez’s poor performance after he failed to catch the ball from a corner for Arsenal’s opening goal.
While Villa were trailing 2-0 in the second half, when an already cautioned Mikel Merino was caught in an incident with Morgan Rogers, many believed the Arsenal man should have been sent off.
Townsend is certainly of that opinion, to say the least.
Andy Townsend calls Mikel Merino’s foul ‘blatant’
Villa were always the underdogs going into the clash, and Emery perhaps needed the rub of the green for a victory.
The Spaniard will most likely feel aggrieved, as Merino was caught grabbing onto Rogers’ arm and dragging the forward to the floor, after the Aston Villa man beat him in the final third.
- Merino committed three fouls
- England penalised the midfielder, but didn’t hand him a second yellow
- Mikel Arteta subbed Merino off shortly after the incident
While speaking live on talkSPORT on Wednesday morning, former Aston Villa man Townsend detailed his exact thoughts on Merino’s controversial moment with Rogers.
Townsend said: “Morgan Rogers skips past [Merino], and he grabs his arm, and hangs on to it. If you grab someone you’ve got to let go sharpish, otherwise it’s a blatant yellow card.
“How on earth the referee saw that as nothing more than just a foul – it wasn’t. Merino was fortunate.”
Villa can’t be too hard on themselves after such a great run of form, but Emery will know how big a moment this was.
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Villa are no strangers to flipping games of football upside down.
Last time out in the Premier League, Villa beat Chelsea 2-1 at Stamford Bridge, coming from behind to win the contest after a second-half brace from Ollie Watkins.
Emery’s side also managed to gain a point from a 2-0 losing position the last time they visited the Emirates Stadium.
Villa trailed by a two-goal deficit before Youri Tielemans and Watkins both got on the scoresheet, ultimately hampering the Gunners in their quest for the title.
Mikel Arteta’s side have got their revenge this time around, but may not have taken all of the points had England been on top of his game.
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