Ex-FIFA official drops John McGinn penalty verdict after Aston Villa win v West Ham

Noel Egan claims Tony Harrington was correct not to award Aston Villa a penalty against West Ham at the London Stadium on Saturday (17 August).

The ex-FIFA official and lifetime Villa supporter doesn't think the Hammers should have been awarded a penalty either.

John McGinn went down inside the box in the early exchanges of Villa's 2-1 win over West Ham after he appeared to be kicked by Mohammed Kudus. However, Harrington decided against awarding the visitors a spot kick.

Tomáš Souček was later awarded a penalty after Matty Cash was adjudged to have fouled him in the box.

And Egan - speaking exclusively to Villa News - believes the referee got one call right and the other wrong.

“There are two incidents in that game,” Egan said.

“McGinn was kicked late in the penalty area, but it was minimal contact. I thought the referee made the correct decision by not awarding the penalty.

“However, in the case of the second one, he got it wrong. That was a straightforward decision in my book."

Aston Villa and Unai Emery kick off the Premier League season with victory at West Ham

If the result had ended differently, Unai Emery might have had a few more complaints.

However, in the end, Jhon Duran came off the bench to grab a later winner for the away side, rendering the decision to award Villa a penalty or not rather pointless.

Nonetheless, Emery will still likely feel hard done by. The Villa boss could argue that there was very little difference between the McGinn and Souček incidents, other than the outcome.

In other Aston Villa news, one player is set for a swift exit with a transfer decision made.

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