Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins and pundit Joey Barton are in agreement over their opinions on the decision to send off John McGinn during Villa’s agonising 4-0 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday afternoon.
Aston Villa were shocked on Sunday afternoon as Tottenham put a spanner in the works in the race for the top four.
Ange Postecoglou’s side stunned Villa Park by walking away with three points and a 4-0 win on what was poised to be one of the biggest fixtures in the Midlands club’s recent history.
Unai Emery made some questionable decisions when it came to how he opted to set up his squad however, the boss had no control over one major factor that unfolded on the pitch to jeopardise Villa’s chances.
At the 65th-minute mark, captain John McGinn was shown a straight red card when the hosts were 2-0 down to the Lilywhites, leaving Villa with 10 men to ward off the continual threat of the visitors.
It was a day to forget for John McGinn and Aston Villa against Tottenham
From the off, Villa looked way below their usual standard of performance however, managed to get in at halftime with the game at 0-0 in what was an equally contested fixture despite their struggles.
After the interval, the hosts fell apart, with James Maddison and Brennan Johnson scoring two quick-fire goals to take the game away from the grasp of Emery’s side.
Things weren’t helped by McGinn’s dismissal due to a strong tackle on Destiny Udogie, seeing Chris Kavanagh send the Scotsman off with VAR not seeing a reason to overturn the decision.
Going down to ten men tainted Villa’s day even more, with Heung-min Son and Timo Werner adding to the Midlands club’s problems by scoring Spurs’ third and fourth to settle the fixture.
Joey Barton and Ollie Watkins in agreement over John McGinn opinion
The red card was controversial to some, with many insisting that a yellow card would have been a sufficient punishment for the 29-year-old, who went clattering into Udogie.
McGinn’s claims to remain on the pitch weren’t helped as a brawl broke out on the touchline near the area of the incident, igniting the tensions and perhaps giving the referee more of a motive to send the midfielder down the tunnel.
During the game, pundit Joey Barton took to Twitter X to share his opinion on the red card, saying:
“Never a red card for John McGinn that. Yellow all day.”
Barton wasn’t the only figure to think that McGinn was unlucky to see red, with Villa skipper Ollie Watkins commenting on the match-defining moment after the fixture, as relayed by journalist John Townley.
“The sending off I think is harsh. Obviously, it looks a little bit reckless because it’s in front of their bench and a big reaction from their side.”
“It’s obviously a tough one to take. That’s the biggest nail in the coffin, losing John for three games.”
The main concern for Villa now that the tensions and disappointment from Sunday begin to clear is that McGinn will miss the next three games, with West Ham, Wolves and Manchester City up next.
The three fixtures will be pivotal for Villa’s hopes to remain in the race for the top four, with the absence of their captain set to be a significant loss to deal with.
