Aston Villa were rocked by Tottenham at Villa Park on Sunday afternoon losing 4-0 to the North Londoners in a fixture that was tainted by the dismissal of captain John McGinn.
Aston Villa will be without their captain for the next three fixtures after John McGinn was shown a straight red card against Tottenham on Sunday.
The Scotsman was sent off for a heavy challenge on Destiny Udogie in the 65th minute when his side were 2-0 down, seeing Unai Emery’s squad hit a point of no return in the matchup.
Villa lost 4-0 to Spurs on the day with second-half goals from James Maddison, Brennan Johnson, Heung-min Son and Timo Werner confirming the points for the visitors in the race for the top four.
With the gap now closed to just two points and with Spurs having a game in hand on Villa above them, Emery’s side face an even tougher battle to secure fourth place particularly now that McGinn will be absent for the next three games.
What has been said about John McGinn’s red card against Spurs
The decision to send off McGinn has split the opinion of the footballing world, with some saying it was a harsh decision and others understanding the choice made by referee Chris Kavanagh.
While VAR did check the incident and found no reason to overturn the on-field decision, the tackle has divided opinion, with pundit Nedum Onuoha being one of those to back Kavanagh’s call.
Speaking on the Football Daily podcast in reaction to the weekend’s results, Onuoha explained why he felt the card was justified.
“I think it’s a red card because I don’t think it’s even a challenge, for me a challenge in football involves trying to get the ball and as I see it, he’s had a headloss, he’s just whacked the fella.”
The pundit’s views are valid, as it was a particularly hard challenge for McGinn to fly into, not helped by the incident taking place in front of the Spurs dugout which sparked a brawl.
John McGinn’s absence will be a big loss for Aston Villa
Like most decisions in football, people will have their opinions however, what matters most for Villa is that McGinn will now be absent for the next three Premier League fixtures.
Speaking on the pending absence of the Scotsman, Onuoha admitted that the Villans face a “big loss” for the upcoming fixtures that they now face without their skipper.
“It’s a big loss, he was having a great season and he’s captain so it’s a big miss.”
Whether he is fielded on the wing or in central midfield, McGinn has so often been Mr Reliable for Emery this season, making his suspension an even bigger blow for the squad.
The 29-year-old was doing a superb job at filling in for the injured Boubacar Kamara with the position now needing to be revisited by the manager to fill yet another void.
Up next for the Midlands club come West Ham, Wolves and Manchester City, three tough games that the captain will have to watch from afar and hope his side can get the job done.
