Wolves vs Aston Villa ref watch: Three decisions Craig Pawson got wrong including Amadou Onana incident
Aston Villa saw their difficult recent run continue as they were beaten 2-0 away at Wolves on Friday night.
Unai Emery’s side have now won just one of their last six games in all competitions, as their push to secure Champions League football for next term continues to show signs of faltering.
The Villans failed to make their quality tell away at the Premier League’s bottom club, and they were made to pay in the 61st minute, when Joao Gomes lashed into the roof of the net to put the hosts ahead.
Rodrigo Gomes then added a second in stoppage time, as the visitors toiled away with no reward at Molineux.
Wolves and Villa played out a lively derby in the opening game of the weekend in the top-flight, and with that in mind, Football Insider picks out three errors made by referee Craig Pawson during the West Midlands clash.
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Amadou Onana hugely fortunate with early free-kick
Pawson’s first error came in just the 12th minute of the action at Molineux on Friday night, as he let Amadou Onana off the hook with a cheap free-kick in the Villa corner.
Onana chased after a loose ball alongside Wolves full-back Hugo Bueno and fought his way ahead of his opponent before losing his footing.
The Belgian’s fall was not as a result of any contact from Bueno, but he grabbed the ball as he fell to the ground, and Pawson jumped at the chance to make an easy decision.
The correct call would have been to award Wolves a free-kick for a handball, but that would have given the hosts a set-piece in a hugely dangerous area, and could have even led to a goal.
With that in mind, it was clear that Pawson did everything that he could to take the easy option in terms of his view of the incident, as he let Onana off the hook for his error, despite not having a great view of the challenge.
Craig Pawson frustrates Wolves fans with advantage decision
Wolves held their own against their high-flying visitors in the opening half an hour, but they saw one of their best opportunities to hit Villa on the counter brought to a halt by the referee.
Andre was dumped on the floor by a challenge from Emi Buendia in the 31st minute, but not before he had layed on a pass that set Edwards’ men away on a four-on-four break from the halfway line.
However, instead of allowing the hosts to continue their burst forward, Pawson pulled the play back and awarded the free-kick to Wolves, must to the frustration of their fans, who voiced their anger in the stands.
Pawson didn’t even book Buendia for the incident, which provided him with even less reason not to have applied the advantage law.
It was poor game understanding from the man in the middle, and would undoubtedly have left Edwards and his staff frustrated, given the situation that looked set to develop for them going forward.
Pawson makes baffling call for Matty Cash foul
Pawson made several confusing errors throughout the 90 minutes at Molineux on Friday, as he made mistake after mistake during the game.
Another clear error from the 46-year-old came in the 56th minute, when he penalised Wolves for a foul on Matty Cash as the Villa right-back dived to make a headed clearance inside his own box.
Bueno arrived on the Poland international’s shoulder and made no contact at all with the Villa man, but his presence alone proved to be enough for Pawson to award a defensive free-kick.
It wasn’t a game packed full of major controversial incidents, but the game struggled to ever truly get into a rhythm, and some of Pawson’s bizarre decisions were a big reason behind that.
For more reaction to Aston Villa’s defeat away at Wolves, check out the expert analysis on Villa News.