Ex-Premier League referee: Konsa should face extended ban as controversial Aston Villa footage analysed
Ezri Konsa should have been sent off as Aston Villa fell to a 3-1 defeat to Chelsea yesterday (26 December), according to Keith Hackett.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Premier League and Fifa referee claimed Konsa did not try and win the ball when he gave away a penalty in the closing stages of the game.
Romelu Lukaku was played in behind the Villa defence and outmuscled Matt Targett before entering the penalty area.
As he prepared to shoot Konsa brought him down with a challenge that saw Chelsea awarded a penalty and Konsa a yellow card, as shown on the BBC’s Match of the Day programme.
Jorginho converted from the spot for the second time in the game as Chelsea’s first goal came after a Matty Cash foul on Callum Hudson-Odoi in the first-half.
“They can have no complaints with the first penalty given,” Hackett said after analysing the footage with Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
“Atkinson is well positioned, it’s a penalty kick every day. That’s a good piece of refereeing by Martin Atkinson.
“On the second one, the lucky bit here is, I don’t think the Aston Villa player made a genuine attempt to play the ball, he played the man.
“The debate centred around this is, should that have been a red card for denial of a goalscoring opportunity and not a yellow?
“From my perspective, there’s the foul, I believe that should have been a red card offence. I don’t think Konsa has made any attempt to play the ball. As such, double jeopardy doesn’t come in.
“The referee may have seen it differently because of his angle. He’s given a yellow and the VAR can actually come in and say ‘It’s a penalty kick and a red card, not a penalty kick and a yellow card’.
“There was a chance for the VAR to come in and operate but they didn’t.”
A red card would have seen Konsa handed a three-game ban.
He would have missed Villa’s Premier League games with Brentford, Man United and Everton.
In other news, six clubs have made moves to sign an Aston Villa player made available for a January move.