Updated / Sunday, 25 May 2025 21:34
Aston Villa will make an official complaint to the Premier League over the choice of referee for their key clash at Manchester United after seeing a goal controversially ruled out as they failed to qualify for the Champions League.
Unai Emery's men struggled at Old Trafford and life was made harder by goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez's sending-off just before half-time, yet they looked to have taken the lead through Morgan Rogers in the 73rd minute.
United's back-up goalkeeper Altay Bayindir did not have the ball in control when it was taken out of his hands by the Villa man, but referee Thomas Bramall had blown for a foul before his strike found the net.
The Premier League match centre confirmed "the incident was not reviewable by the VAR" as "the whistle was blown by the referee before the ball entered the goal" - a body blow quickly followed by Amad Diallo and Christian Eriksen goals.
[Villa's 2-0 defeat saw them finish sixth and miss out on Champions League qualification](https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2025/0525/1514858-premier-league-city-chelsea-magpies-book-ucl-spots/), with the club set to complain to the Premier League having felt a more experienced official should have been selected.
Villa director of football Damian Vidagany said: "The complaint is not about the decision.
"The complaint is about the selection of the referee - 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, so we can do nothing.
"The problem is why the experienced referees, international referees were not here today."