Aston Villa boss Unai Emery persuaded Daniel Schlager to go “against the laws of the game” as Aston Villa beat Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday.
An early red card for Kyriani Sabbe made an already difficult task for the visitors all-but impossible as Villa ran out 3-0 winners on the night, making it 6-1 on aggregate.
An Ian Maatsen goal was sandwiched between a brace from Marco Asensio, making it seven goals in just eight games for the Spaniard since his January loan move from PSG, whom he will be available to play against in the quarter-final next month.
But the game ended in controversy as Emery, along with Club Brugge boss Nicky Haven approached German official Schlager in the 90th minute to reach an agreement that there would be no additional time at the end of the 90 minutes.
That’s in spite of substitutions being made at three separate points in the second half, and Keith Hackett, a former FIFA referee, was baffled by the lack of added time, which led referee Daniel Siebert to blow the final whistle as soon as the clock ticked over to 90 minutes.
Hackett revealed the officials broke IFAB law and had sympathy for the Aston Villa fans paying to watch a full game.
“The action by the fourth official is against the laws of the game,” Hackett told Villa News.
“Each game must have two equal halves of 45 minutes, plus any time lost.
“While I can understand the request from the losing manager, officials are not allowed to take this course of action. Fans are also paying good money to see a complete game.
“The law says that the fourth official indicates the minimum additional time decided by the referee at the end of the final minute of each half.
“The additional time may be increased by the referee but not reduced. The referee must not compensate for a timekeeping error during the first half by changing the length of the second half.”
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The Champions League is unknown territory for Tyrone Mings, who joined Villa when they were playing in the Championship and is now in the quarter-final of the Europe’s showpiece.
The Villa defender told TNT Sports: “It’s good. Tough to put into words. When you’re in it, it’s hard to take it in and appreciate it, the level we’re playing at. The bar keeps raising. The Championship feels like a long time ago. I’m really enjoying the journey.
“It’s important for them [Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio] to come in and buy into it. They come with big reputations. For them to come in, hit the ground coming, buy into the group and show their quality is so impressive.
“We didn’t get it right in the first half. It’s important to stay calm and try to figure it out at half-time.
“His experience is so valuable. The ancedotes he gives us are so important to give us a reality check on how much work still needs to be done.
“Of course [he watched the PSG game yesterday], what else was I meant to be doing? Very tough game. We’re so excited. We play in the toughest league in the world. When it comes to the Champions League, we’ll go there and give a good account of ourselves. We’ll enjoy every moment but we have a lot of firepower and quality ourselves.”