Aston Villa may be feeling a little hard done by after their 0-0 draw with Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.
Unai Emery will not have been happy with his Aston Villa side’s performance in the stalemate but will accept that the win over Bayern Munich in midweek took a lot out of his players.
It was a game that lacked quality, with Bruno Fernandes hitting the crossbar from a free-kick and Jaden Philogene seeing a late effort blocked the only real times either side looked like scoring.
However, there was one key moment as Marcus Rashford sent Leon Bailey crashing to the ground with a late challenge when the United man was already on a booking, with Villa dismayed that the winger stayed on the pitch.
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Keith Hackett believes Marcus Rashford was lucky against Aston Villa
The fact Erik ten Hag substituted Rashford almost immediately after the incident highlights the fact United felt they were lucky to get away with not going down to ten men.
It was the second time in as many league games that Villa can feel aggrieved at a player not being handed a second yellow card after Sam Morsy got away with a number of fouls whilst on a yellow card in the 2-2 draw at Ipswich Town last weekend.
Now, former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett has claimed that the decision not to send Rashford off was the wrong one, explaining in his Telegraph column: “[Rahsford was] let off the hook by referee Rob Jones when he should have been punished
“Marcus Rashford should have been shown a second yellow card for his challenge on Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey, and it was frankly baffling referee Rob Jones failed to correctly apply the law.”
Hackett explains only reason Rashford stayed on against Aston Villa
Perhaps it would have made no difference to the result if Rashford had been sent off given the lack of quality in either final third, but that is beside the point.
There has been a lot of talk about a ‘higher bar’ for a second yellow card this season, but ultimately a yellow card should be a yellow card regardless of whether a player has already been booked.
Hackett explained that this is perhaps the only reason that referee Rob Jones did not see fit to give Rashford his marching orders, saying: “The only thing I can think of is that the first yellow – for a trip on Matty Cash – was soft, and Jones must have felt it would have been harsh to dismiss a player for those two offences.
“However, that should not be taken into account when judging a players’ actions – each action should be looked at in isolation – and Rashford’s trip of Bailey was petulant and should have been sanctioned.
“If there were any debate then that disappeared when Erik ten Hag rightly substituted the player to ensure he was not sent off the next time he committed a foul.”
Hackett’s comments show Villa fans are right to feel aggrieved and they will be hoping for the rub of the green against Fulham next time out.
