2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Neil Moxley)
Unai Emery railed against the decision that stopped Aston Villa from grabbing a last-gasp victory over Juventus . Villa’s boss claimed that the vast majority of referees would allow defender Diego Carlos's contact, which match official Gil Manzano called a foul. Morgan Rogers was on hand to force home the ball after Michele Di Gregorio spilled it from Youri Tielemans’s late free-kick.
It was the last action of the evening and would have handed Villa victory . Emery labelled the verdict ‘very soft’ - believing that 80 per cent of the time a goal would have been given. He said: “I’m very happy.
We dominated the match. With the last action, it is the interpretation of the referee. In England, 80 per cent of those is given as a goal and it is not a foul.
It’s very soft. We have to accept it. "The last action is clear.
It's the interpretation of the referee. For me it was harsh. In England, I know it's not a foul usually, because it was a very soft contact.
But in Europe, it could be foul." This stalemate made it seven without a win in all competitions for Villa who struggled to create clear-cut chances. The closest they came was in the 70th-minute when John McGinn’s sidefoot was cleared off the line by Manuel Locatelli.
Emery added: “We were closer than them to winning the match. “They are very difficult to beat but we created a plan. There weren’t many clear chances for either team.
It was a tight match for both but, overall, I am happy with the picture in the Champions League . HAVE YOUR SAY! Should Aston Villa's late goal have stood? Comment below . "We still have the possibility of finishing in the top eight.
We played a serious match. We played trying to avoid the mistakes we made from the last matches. We were playing better and I think we more or less deserved to win the match than them.
" Emery was full of praise for Emi Martinez’s 66th-minute save from Francisco Conceicao. The little winger powered a header goalwards only to see the Argentinian claw it to safety by millimetres. Villa’s boss added: “With this, there is no interpretation.
The line is there and it’s clearly not a goal. It was a fantastic save.” Star striker Ollie Watkins was also left perplexed that the goal had been disallowed.
He told TNT Sports: "I think it was soft. Maybe in the Premier League , it's a goal. But in Europe, the goalkeepers are protected a lot.
It's one of them. "I thought we scored. But to be fair, this game had a 0-0 written all over it.
Obviously, I have to be careful talking about the referee, but it's different in this competition. We are used to it now. Sometimes it goes against you and sometimes it goes in your favour.
" "It's a positive result. The fans want to see a lot of goals and we do ourselves too, but the most important thing was that we didn't lose tonight. Juventus are a massive team and they played well.
We kept them out and now we move onto the weekend." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.
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