Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings escapes ‘worse’ elbow as Chelsea’s Jackson dismissed
Tyrone Mings’ elbow on Alex Scott is considered worse than Nicolas Jackson’s on Sven Botman even if the Aston Villa defender avoided receiving a card for the incident.
Aston Villa‘s crucial win over the Cherries on Saturday (10 May) saw them move level with Chelsea on points with just two games remaining this season.
However, the win was not without incident, with both clubs desperate for points in their respective hunts for European football.
Jacob Ramsey was sent off, receiving a second yellow card in the closing stages of the game, whilst Keith Hackett told Football Insider exclusively that Justin Kluivert deserved a sanction of his own for a dive early in the second half.
Tyrone Mings elbow ‘worse’ than Nicolas Jackson foul
Jim White asked Martin Keown about two incidents that happened at the weekend on talkSPORT, Tyrone Mings’ elbow on Alex Scott and Jackson’s red card for a similar incident against Newcastle, and which he thought was worse, the former Arsenal man said (12 May, 12.55pm): “Well I think this one was actually worse than the Jackson one.
“The Jackson one looked to me as if the defender, you know when you lower yourself to sort of, push off and head the ball, I think that’s what happens and Jackson puts his arm out. That was a bit unfortunate.
“But this one, the arm has really gone in to Alex Scott. So, Mings has really gotten away with one.
“Only Tyrone Mings will know, himself, whether he’s deliberately done him or not.”
White then asks if it looks like intent to Keown, who responded: “It certainly looked like it, yeah.
“Watching it back, seeing it at the time, he’s lucky to get away with it. But only he knows.”
White followed up by asking Keown if he had ever elbowed anybody during his playing career, and the former Arsenal captain revealed he hadn’t and that was largely due to contracting glaucoma in his right eye after suffering a broken eye socket.
The ex-England international then said that challenging another player with your elbow was a “cheap way to attack someone” and reiterated how fortunate Mings was not to be punished for his challenge on Scott.
Following his substitution at half-time during Aston Villa’s 1-0 win over Bournemouth, the club revealed the England U21 international had suffered a fractured jaw as a consequence of the challenge [Bournemouth].
Tyrone Mings incident highlights the need for review on elbow fouls
Football Insider Verdict
Jackson and Mings’ elbows on their respective opponents have highlighted the strange relationship football has with certain types of fouls.
Given that they are usually a rarity in comparison to fouls committed with other parts of the body, there is a lack of any real discourse around them.
Joao Pedro’s attempted decapitation of Yehor Yarmoliuk in December was shocking to see, but since then, there have been few, if any, major fouls involving that body part until this past weekend.
Mings’ challenge initially looked rough and he lacked control, but it was easy to see why referee Stuart Attwell chose not to show a red card, although the lack of a yellow was a surprise.
But upon learning the damage caused to Scott, it shows there may be a need for PGMOL to treat elbows far more seriously than they have in the past.