BEVERLY HILLS, January 21, (THEWILL) – One of the most interesting English Premier League ties of the season played out on Wednesday between Manchester City and Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium. For an hour or so, this was game-of-the-season material and top-shelf entertainment quality for most football fans.
At one end, City were racking up chance after chance and the visitors were throwing body, soul and kitchen sink in front of them to keep the ball out of the net. Up the other, every now and then, Villa were coming ever closer to conjuring something for themselves, only to fall agonisingly short of breaching City’s defenses.
They cancelled out each other time and again so much, it was pardonable to conclude that it was going to be a well-fought out nil-nil stalemate. It was a match with none of that careful but enfeebled Villa performance at Anfield but an end-to-end football that made a hero out of Villa goalie Emiliano Martinez. And, though he ended up conceding twice, it could have been a lot more than that.
However, what marked out the fixture as extraordinary was a multi-stage argument about the offside rule and a contentious spat that got Villa coach Dean Smith slapped with a sending off for his part in the disagreements.
It began when 11 minutes from time, City’s defensive midfielder Rodri Cascante, came back from an offside position behind Tyrone Mings to dispossess the Villa defender and set up Bernado Silva, who finished clinically with his left foot from the edge of the penalty area to hand City the advantage.
It was one of those exciting occasions where the rules of football become less about precision and more about intricacies because while the decision was right, it felt wrong. It was easy to understand Smith’s frustration given how much Villa had invested in keeping the ball out of their net.
Baring his heart out after the match, the Villa gaffer did not hold back: “It was a farcical decision. I’ve not seen a goal like that given. It needs to be looked at. I don’t think anyone in this stadium thought it was a goal.
“I thought they would go over to the VAR screen. I saw the incident and saw it was kicking off, so I asked the fourth officials did they get juggling balls for Christmas.
“Are we just going to leave players behind the line then? It’s farcical. He was 10 yards offside and came back and tackled our player, it’s a pathetic law and a pathetic decision.”
That was what got him booked. He went at the fourth official David Coote with his “juggling balls for Christmas” and the frustration he felt was truly evident. The referee Jon Moss dished out the red card and sent Smith off in the 80th minute.
However, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher says Villa may have to direct their frustrations at the International Football Association Board (IFAB), rather than VAR, because the referee correctly interpreted the rule as it currently stands.
Interpreting the action with the rule Gallagher explained that with Mings being in control of the ball is allowed Rodri to challenge him from an offside position, which is exactly what played out in the run-up to the opening City goal.
That altercation aside, there was a lot of genuine encouragement for Villa from this performance. They showed real confidence and commitment going at City with gusto while defending strongly. It my be back-to-back defeat for them after the 4-1 loss to Liverpool but they will hopefully fare better against Newcastle in their next fixture.
For City, it was a bittersweet result. Their sixth win in six placed them temporarily on top of the League standings until neighbours Manchester United defeated Fulham to retake their leadership spot on the table. However, City were left sweating out an injury to seasoned playmaker and midfielder conductor, Kevin De Bruyne, their one truly irreplaceable player.
He limped off the pitch with what manager Pep Guardiola thinks is a muscle injury. They will hope it is nothing more than that as the competition at the very top shifts into top gear.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
