Aston Villa intend to make an official complaint to the Premier League that a more experienced referee was not selected to oversee their game against Manchester United.
United won 2-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday, ending Aston Villa's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League, and Unai Emery was incensed by VAR's decision to disallow Morgan Rogers' goal.
Altay Bayindir fumbled the ball in the 73rd minute and Rogers slotted into an empty net. However, referee Thomas Brammall whistled for a foul before the goal, believing Bayindir had both hands on the ball when challenged by Rogers, meaning VAR could not intervene. The moment proved decisive, as Amad scored minutes later.
Emery was joined by Aston Villa's director of football operations during an extraordinary press conference.
About the decision, a disgruntled Emery said: "Today we can speak about the season, we can speak about the 90 minutes and we can speak about the key moments. The key moment was of course the goal of Rogers and how the referee decided the action.
"He whistled and of course he [Bayindir] needed to have it under his control. I spoke with the referee and he knows his mistakes. We make mistakes every day, I do as well.
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"I believe in VAR and I think we have very good referees in the Premier League, but sometimes make a mistake. With this goal, maybe we could get a better result and a Champions League position, but we didn’t deserve more than the result we have."
When asked if the referee had apologised, Emery said: "It is not necessary. He knows. He makes a mistake."
Villa's director of football, Damian Vidagany, then confirmed an official complaint would be made. “The complaint is not about the decision. The complaint is about the selection of the referees," he said.
"One of the most inexperienced referees for one of the most difficult matches of the season involving another four or five teams. It's not about the decision. The decision is clear. It's a mistake.
"The referee apologised for the mistake. We can do nothing. The problem is why the experienced international referees were not here today.”
The Premier League's match centre released a statement and said: "The referee’s call was a free kick to Manchester United with Bayindir deemed to be in control of the ball before Rogers gained possession.
"The whistle was blown by the referee before the ball entered the goal, therefore the incident was not reviewable by the VAR."
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