Unai Emery complains to the fourth official.Unai Emery complains to the fourth official.
Unai Emery complains to the fourth official. | Getty Images
Aston Villa have complained over a VAR decision that saw Chelsea and Newcastle United book a place in the Champions League ahead of them.
Chelsea confirmed their place in the Champions League next season on the final day of the Premier League campaign with a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest at The City Ground.
That was a key fixture in the race for the Champions League with Forest finishing the season just one point off the top four in sixth place. A win for Chelsea confirmed a fourth place finish with Newcastle United placing fifth and Aston Villa in sixth.
However, that could all have looked much different if Villa had not lost 2-0 to Manchester United on Sunday. Unai Emery’s side may have won the game if a Morgan Rogers goal stood rather than being controversially disallowed for a foul on Red Devils goalkeeper Altay Bayindir.
Bayindir was judged to have had control of the ball when Rogers poked it out of his hands, but it is clear that was not the case. Moments later, Amad Diallo put Manchester United ahead before Christian Eriksen scored from the spot.
A point for Aston Villa would have been enough to see them rise above Chelsea and Newcastle United into fourth, juggling around the European spots - it would certainly have cost the Magpies their place in the tournament as they were beaten by Everton. The Blues would still have had Champions League football in fifth but news of a Villa win could have filtered through to stadiums across the country and affected results.
The Midlands side has sent an official complaint but not gone as far as to make ambitious demands such as a replay. LondonWorld looks at the detail in the Aston Villa complaint and the history of replays in UK football.
Aston Villa submit PGMOL complaint
Aston Villa have submitted an official complaint to referees' body Professional Game Match Officials Limited after the mistake. In the complaint, the club stated that a ‘more experienced referee’ should have been appointed in charge of a game with ‘such high stakes’. Thomas Bramall was the referee in charge of the game and blew to disallow the goal.
The club said: "Of the 10 referees to officiate across the Premier League today, Mr Bramall was the second least experienced. The decision to disallow Morgan Rogers' goal, which would have given the club a 1-0 lead with 17 minutes remaining in the match, was a major contributing factor to the club not qualifying for the Champions League.
"We acknowledge the outcome will not change, but we believe it is important to address the selection methodology to ensure high-stakes matches are treated as such with regards to officiating and to ensure the implemented VAR technology is allowed to be effective."
Bramall first refereed in the Premier League in August 2022 and oversaw 11 top flight matches and 12 Championship matches this season. In Aston Villa's post-match news conference, director of football operations Damian Vidagany spoke ahead of the complaint being sent.
He said: "We are going to send a complaint. The complaint is not about the decision, it is about the selection of the referee - one of the most inexperienced referees in the Premier League. It's not about the decision, clearly it was a mistake. The complaint is about the referee. The problem is why the international referees were not here today."
Has a Premier League match ever been replayed?
There is no precedent in the Premier League for a result to be changed or a match to be replayed because of a refereeing error. For the Premier League to make such a verdict seems impossible given the can of worms it could open for any future refereeing errors.
In September 2023, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp called for a replay after his Reds side were beaten 2-1 by Tottenham Hotspur. In that match, a Luis Diaz strike was wrongly ruled out for offside by VAR with an apology issued to the club. Klopp said: "If that would happen again, I would say replay. Or much, much better than a replay - sort it in that moment. Common sense."
There was no replay or change to the result by the Premier League. The most relevant instance of a replay happening for a similar incident came in an FA Cup third-round tie in 1999.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger offered Sheffield United a replay due to controversy surrounding a Marc Overmas winner in a 2-1 victory. The ball had been kicked into touch by a Manchester United player to allow a teammate to receive treatment but the Gunners used that to launch an attack and score.
That caused quite the fracas with police intervening to keep the peace on the pitch and FA chief security officer Adrian Titcombe coming from the stands to the field of play. Wenger then offered a replay in a TV interview after full time.
Responding to that, former Manchester United manager Steve Bruce said: “I have never felt so angry or bitter in my entire career and I did want the players to come off. I have never seen anything like that before. But Arsenal's offer is the right one and what I would expect from such a great club.”
In conclusion, the Premier League ordering a replay of the Aston Villa match is as close to impossible as can be. Even if there was precedent for that, making the call would come with the suggestion that all teams in the Champions League race should play again given that those fixtures take place simultaneously for fair play. Chelsea’s place in the Champions League is therefore safe.
In other news, Chelsea and Arsenal target excluded from Man Utd squad hours after WAG teases transfer.
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