Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest decision leads to disbelief from ex-FIFA official – ‘Poor’
Aston Villa can count themselves unlucky even after securing a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest.
Villa got back to winning ways against Forest as Unai Emery’s men dominated from start to finish at Villa Park.
John McGinn bagged a brace to add to Ollie Watkins’ smashing opener to help the Villans to three points in the Midlands.
Things didn’t go all in the home side’s favour with Villa struggling in the first half against Forest as Sean Dyche’s side were largely effective defensively.
The hosts did eventually secure the win, but they arguably should have been afforded the opportunity from the spot to extend their lead in B6.
Keith Hackett fumes at Simon Hooper after Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest
Villa had to bounce back after their defeat to Arsenal, and that’s exactly what they did with a pretty stellar victory in the Midlands.
Despite this, referee Simon Hooper was central to criticism from supporters as many decisions arguably went against the Villans on the day.
Morgan Rogers may have had a penalty after being pushed in the back by Nikola Milenkovic, but play was waved on by the match official.
The England international was involved in another incident in the second half, where Neco Williams fell into his own penalty area before grabbing the ball.
Hooper opted to give a free kick against the Villa man despite limited contact, sparing the blushes of the Welshman.
Former FIFA official Keith Hackett strongly disagreed with the decision, suggesting a spot kick should have been awarded to the claret-and-blue outfit.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Hackett said: “The player went to ground far too easily and then handled the ball. This is a poor decision by the referee not to award a penalty kick.“
Aston Villa won’t care about Hooper’s failings vs Forest
Fortunately for Emery and Co. the potential controversy surrounding these decisions was avoided by a positive and hugely professional performance.
Villa could have seen this clash as a banana skin, but their mindset in recent weeks has been that they can win every game.
They did exactly that and were more than deserving after maintaining 73 per cent possession and racking up 1.64 expected goals in that time compared to Forest’s 0.89.
Their 11 shots, 574 accurate passes and 45 touches in the opposition box sum up everything good about Villa in what was a great showing, regardless of decisions that didn’t go their way.
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