Smith reveals what he said to get sent off after blasting ‘farcical’ decisions

Dean Smith hailed an “heroic” effort from Aston Villa against Manchester City, but was left criticising “farcical” decisions.

Villa pushed City close in their first Premier League game since New Year’s Day after a recent coronavirus outbreak at the club. However, their efforts were eventually undone by two goals in the later stages of the game.

First, City broke the deadlock via a Bernardo Silva strike – although Rodri had come back from an offside position to win the ball in the build-up.

Smith strongly disagreed with the decision and received a red card for his complaints. City went on to score a second via a penalty, which was also questionable.

FULL MATCH REPORT: MAN CITY 2-0 ASTON VILLA

The Villa boss could not speak highly enough of the endeavour shown by his players after the game, but it was the refereeing decisions which took his focus.

“In terms of effort, it was heroic,” he told BT Sport. “We only had three days training and played a very good team.

“They had lots of chances but they’ve missed them and they’ve been given two goals at the end.

“Are we just going to leave players behind the line then? It’s farcical. He was 10 yards offside and come back and tackled our player, it’s a pathetic law and a pathetic decision.

“I said to the fourth official David Coote: ‘Did you get juggling balls for Christmas?’ I don’t think any other manager would get sent off for that.”

Smith thinks officials cost Villa

The second goal was also controversial, as there did not appear to be much Matty Cash could have done to stop handling the ball.

Once again, Smith could not understand why the referees did not consult VAR.

“Matty Cash is a yard away for the handball, he can’t jump without his arms up,” he said. He didn’t even look at it, it flabbergasts me.

“It was a poor performance from the officials and that’s cost us.”