Steven Gerrard furious with match officials following Aston Villa draw
Fuming Villa boss Steven Gerrard let rip at the officials after Ashley Barnes escaped a red card for elbowing Tyrone Mings in Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Burnley.
Barnes’ challenge left Mings on the floor in the opening five minutes but was not deemed worthy of a booking, or action by VAR John Brooks.
That left Gerrard completely bemused and questioning whether it required his player to suffer a broken cheek before the officials would take action.
Barnes would later open the scoring from the spot as the visitors earned a point which took them out of the relegation zone.
Gerrard said: “I think we should have been playing against 10 men from a very early stage. I thought it was a clear red card, one of the clearest I’ve seen this season.
“That decision went against us and then we made an individual error to make tonight’s challenge a lot more complicated for ourselves.
“Apparently the PGMOL said there was not enough force for it to be a red card. I heard it and I was 60 yards away.
“He (Barnes) has run into the incident from 10 yards, pulled his elbow back and smashed him in the face. Have you got to break someone’s cheek to go off the pitch. Everyone knows that is a red card, that is a fact.”
Emi Buendia was responsible for conceding the spot-kick when he brought down Maxwel Cornet but redeemed himself by netting the equaliser early in the second half.
A winner proved elusive, however, with Clarets goalkeeper Nick Pope pulling off a stunning save to deny Bertrand Traore.
Gerrard said: “I didn’t think there was much wrong in terms of our performance up to the final third of the pitch but then we lacked that bit of quality. To score one goal from the chances we had is not good enough.”
