Exclusive: Mings escapes ‘reckless’ elbow red card in Aston Villa v Bournemouth
Tyrone Mings was very lucky to escape punishment for a “reckless” elbow on Alex Scott in Aston Villa’s clash with Bournemouth, according to Keith Hackett.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that there was clearly intent behind the defender’s actions.
Both sides went into Saturday’s (10 May) desperately needing points in their quest to qualify for European competition.
For Villa, the focus is on making it into the Champions League, whilst Bournemouth would be happy to settle for a place in the Conference League at this point, having suffered a miserable mid-season run.
With little action at either end of the pitch to speak of, it looked for all the world like the first-half would finish goalless.
That was until Liverpool target Morgan Rogers swung in a delightful cross, which Arsenal target Ollie Watkins deftly glanced into the back of the net.
However, a clash between Scott and Mings earlier in the game caught the eye of former FIFA referee Hackett.
Tyrone Mings catches Alex Scott with elbow
With just seven minutes gone, Mings lost control of the ball near his own box, as Scott looked to steal ahead and win back possession for his side.
As a response, Villa‘s defender made himself large, attempting to shield the ball from the young midfielder by lunging between his opponent and the ball.
However, in his attempts to keep possession, Mings elbowed Scott square in the face, catching him on the chin with full force.
The midfielder received several minutes of medical attention before being forced off injured at halftime, with the English defender escaping punishment.
Keith Hackett reviews footage of Tyrone Mings elbow
Having reviewed the incident, ex-PGMOL chief Hackett told Football Insider exclusively that whilst the punishment was not worthy of a red card, the elbow was “reckless” and still deserving of a sanction, which VAR is unable to affect.
“Early in the game, Tyrone Mings challenged for the ball and clearly with a bent arm/elbow and backwards movement made contact with the face of Bournemouth’s Scott, who went to ground holding his face.
“VAR checked and determined that it was not a red card. The action by Mings was reckless, a yellow card offence [at a] minimum.
“However, VAR under the criteria is not allowed to recommend a yellow card.
“The movement, although reckless, lacked excessive force to cross the line from the sanction of a yellow to red.”