Exclusive: VAR ‘failed’ as Jacob Ramsey denied penalty in Aston Villa v Brighton
Keith Hackett has criticised Stuart Attwell for failing to award an “easy” penalty for a foul on Jacob Ramsey in Aston Villa’s 3-0 win over Brighton.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that the VAR also “failed” when it should have intervened after the English winger was brought down in Brighton’s box.
Both sides went into Wednesday evening’s match (2 April) with the hopes of claiming three points to bolster their Champions League qualification push.
Brighton started brightly, taking the reigns in the tie and thought they should have been given a penalty after Kaoru Mitoma went down under contact by Matty Cash.
However, following a 0-0 first half, Villa stole control as the on-loan Marcus Rashford scored his first Premier League goal for the club.
The Englishman’s efforts were followed by goals from PSG loanee Marco Asensio and Borussia Dortmund loanee Donyell Malen.
In spite of what ended up being a comfortable win for the Villains, they were dismayed not to be given a penalty in the first half.
Jacob Ramsey denied penalty after Jack Hinshelwood challenge
With 36 minutes gone and the scores tied at 0-0, Ramsey weaved his way into the box, bearing down on his England U21 colleague, Jack Hinshelwood.
The Brighton defender, a midfielder by trade, poked his foot out attempting to steal the ball away, but instead caught the flying winger, bringing him down.
Ramsey rolled to the ground clutching his foot, whilst Hinshelwood leapt up from the pitch, as if acting like the incident had never happened would somehow prove his innocence.
Interestingly, Attwell then chose not to award a spot-kick, in spite of being less than 10 yards away from the foul.
Even more interestingly, VAR then stuck with the on-field call made by the referee, with Ramsey left in disbelief at the decision.
Whilst Villa would emerge victorious from the match, the incident caught the eye of the former chief of PGMOL.
Keith Hackett gives verdict on Aston Villa penalty appeals
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, ex-FIFA referee Hackett believed the decision to be an “easy” one, with Attwell and VAR getting it all wrong, saying:
“There was a good shout for a penalty kick to be awarded for Aston Villa when the forward [Ramsey] running into the box, was met with a challenge by a Brighton player [Hinshelwood], who stuck out a right-leg, over went the Aston Villa player.
“It was an easy decision to award a penalty kick, but Stuart Attwell decided, no.
“At that point, I think VAR could have come in and helped the decision making process, but failed to do so.”
Villa will look to carry on their winning form, having leapfrogged Brighton in the Premier League table, when they take on Nottingham Forest in their next match on Saturday, 5 April.