Feyenoord vs Aston Villa ref watch: Three decisions Rade Obrenovic got wrong
Aston Villa earned their second Europa League victory of the season as they beat Feyenoord 2-0 in a controversial clash on Dutch soil.
The game began in hectic style as Feyenoord‘s Anel Ahmedhodzic could have been sent off in the opening stages for taking Ollie Watkins down just outside the area, but he was adjudged not to be the last man after a VAR review.
Feyenoord thought they had taken the lead just after the half-hour mark as Ayase Ueda’s header crossed the line despite Marco Bizot‘s save, but referee Rade Obrenovic had already blown his whistle for a foul on Matty Cash.
Evann Guessand went close for Unai Emery’s side just after the break as his shot from Ian Maatsen’s cross hit the left post, then Emi Buendia finally found the breakthrough on the hour mark with a well-taken shot from the edge of the area.
Captain John McGinn scored his second in as many Europa League games with another for Aston Villa ten minutes from time, and the Premier League side emerged with a 2-0 win on Thursday (2 October) at De Kuip.
Match referee Obrenovic got a number of decisions wrong in a controversial clash, and Football Insider have picked out three that should have gone a different way.
Anel Ahmedhodzic should have been sent off for Ollie Watkins tackle
Ahmedhodzic joined Feyenoord from Sheffield United in the summer, and despite being a standout for the Bramall Lane outfit, he was lucky to stay on the pitch against English opposition here.
The 26-year-old allowed Watkins to breeze past him and advance on goal just outside the area in the 13th minute, and his late tackle impeded the England striker and earned him a yellow card from Obrenovic.
He was then sent to the VAR screen to review his decision, with the former Blade seemingly denying Watkins a goalscoring opportunity on replay, but Obrenovic wrongly stood by his original decision and did not sent Ahmedhodzic off.
Ayase Ueda’s header should have stood with no foul from Tsuyoshi Watanabe on Matty Cash
Another massively controversial call in the first-half this time went Villa’s way, as Ueda’s header from a dangerous corner was deemed to be over the line, but did not count as Obrenovic blew for a foul on Cash.
Cash went down among a cluster of bodies in the box just before the Japan striker leapt to score, with Tsuyoshi Watanabe deemed to have pulled him to the floor.
Once again, replays showed that the Villa right-back went down way too easily, and the fact that neither he nor any of his teammates asked for the free-kick to be given showed that Obrenovic should not have blown his whistle to deny the hosts a perfectly fine opener.
Morgan Rogers should have been booked for diving
The second-half was not as action-packed in terms of refereeing calls, but it was pretty frantic as both sides tried to get on the scoreboard and attacked with vigour.
Morgan Rogers has seriously struggled for form at Villa in recent weeks, and this game was no different as he entered the penalty area on the hour mark and went down under perceived contact from Givairo Read.
Obrenovic rightly ignored his claims for a penalty, but failed to book the England winger for a clear dive, which then allowed him to stay on the pitch as he was soon booked for dissent five minutes from time.