Premier League update on Brentford v Aston Villa incident 'wrong' - Ex-PGMOL chief

Refereeing Consultant AUTHORITY Former FIFA Referee; Head of PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited). FOCUS Laws of the Game, VAR implementation, officiating performance, and PGMOL policy. THE AUDIT Keith utilises Statscore’s Officiating Telemetry, including Deep-Data Metrics like Incident Accuracy Rates, VAR Intervention Latency, and Official Positional Efficiency. He provides technical refereeing analysis to reveal the regulatory reality behind match-defining decisions.

Published on:

09 Mar 2025, 1:40 am

Keith Hackett has hit out at the Premier League's explanation for Brentford not being awarded a penalty against Aston Villa on Saturday.

Ollie Watkins' 49th-minute goal won the game for Villa at the Gtech Community Stadium. However, it was a game that was littered with incidents.

Morgan Rogers thought he doubled Villa's tally instantly after Watkins' goal before the England centre-forward was judged by VAR to be offside in the build-up.

Brentford then thought they should have had two penalties for incidents involving Kevin Schade.

Jarred Gillett failed to award Brentford a penalty v Aston Villa. (Credit: Sky Sports)

Alex Disasi incidents almost ruin Aston Villa win

The second of those incidents saw Aston Villa's Axel Disasi force Schade onto the ground.

Jarred Gillett didn't point to the spot and after a brief check, VAR Peter Bankes stood by the on-field decision.

The Premier League Match Centre then announced on X that "the contact [between Disasi and Schade] deemed to be minimal and initiated by Schade".

	Played	GD	Points
1. Liverpool	29	+42	70
2. Arsenal	27	+28	54
3. Nottm Forest	28	+12	51
4. Man City	28	+15	47
5. Chelsea	27	+16	46
6. Brighton	28	+6	46
7. Aston Villa	29	-4	45

Aston Villa have moved within two points of the Premier League's top four.

Former Premier League and FIFA-listed referee Hackett disagreed with that assessment, arguing that Disasi caused the contact by pushing into Schade and that a penalty should have been awarded.

"I do not agree that the contact was initiated by the Brentford player," Hackett told Villa News.

"VAR should have requested the referee to review the monitor on this incident.

"The view from behind gives clarity here and a penalty kick should have been awarded."

#BREAVL – 78’

The referee’s call of no penalty to Brentford following a challenge by Disasi on Schade was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the contact deemed to be minimal and initiated by Schade.
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) March 8, 2025