Matty Cash says Aston Villa have to adapt to European refereeing as he refused to blame officialdom for the disallowed ‘goal’ that denied them a famous victory over Juventus.
Villa’s right-back stood near to referee Gil Manzano as he gave the decision for a foul on visiting keeper Michele Di Gregorio who clumsily dropped Youri Tielemans’s free-kick in what was the last action of the game.
Morgan Rogers thought he had won it by kicking the ball into an unguarded net only to see the Spanish official stop the celebrations in their tracks following after Di Gregorio was impeded by Diego Carlos. Villa Park was confused as it was unclear if – by pointing upfield – Manzano had awarded the goal or a free-kick. And play stopped for a VAR check that also went unannounced.
Eventually, it worked out that Juve had earned a point from the goalless stalemate. And Cash said the different application of the laws partly explained why it had not been awarded.
He said: “The referee was stood near me, so I could see he had blown. I didn’t run over and celebrate, because I knew. But I don’t think anyone else knew it wasn't a goal.
“Obviously, European football is a little bit different. No disrespect to the referees but you probably have a lot more fouls in European football, as we found out last year in the Conference League.
“You have to adapt. You can’t really touch a lot of players now, or it’s a foul. I said to the referee tonight, it is difficult, in big games managing every situation. We all make mistakes and sometimes the refs are going to make mistakes.
“That is just football, you know. We are all humans. We all make mistakes and he has a big job tonight refereeing the big game. It is difficult. They try to do as well as they can and we do as well. Overall, it was fair.”
The other talking point centred on the save by Emi Martinez midway through the second half that ensured Villa kept a clean sheet. The Argentine somehow twisted his body to the right to get a hand to Francisco Conceicao’s header from point-blank range at the back post following a right-wing corner.
It came on the night when Martinez became the first shot-stopper to pick up a second successive Lev Yashin award. Cash said: “Yeah, it was an unbelievable save. To be honest I did think it was in but yes, it was unbelievable. Mind you, that’s what he is there for, he’s a goalie.”