Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder was not happy with the decision to send off John Egan early in his side’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa. Wilder also felt that Villa ‘s Matt Targett could have seen red after conceding a penalty, from which John Lundstram was denied by debutant Emiliano Martinez. Referee Graham Scott gave Egan his marching orders and a subsequent Video Assistant Referee (VAR) check upheld the decision.
Chris Wilder said “It’s difficult to be 100 per cent certain from Graham’s position that both players weren’t grappling for the ball. They were grabbing each other. The assistant referee had the best position in the place. Then the decision goes somewhere else and I’m not sure what happens then, to be honest. I don’t understand why there wasn’t dialogue with the assistant. His reaction was a giveaway. If I’ve got this wrong I’ll apologise to everyone but I’ve been in the game for a while and I’m not one for deflecting from my team’s performance. I don’t think the correct decisions have been given. I thought that if Targett made an attempt for the ball then it’s possibly not a red card – but he doesn’t, because the ball is too far away. There’s no way in a million years he can make a tackle. Basham did well to put himself between the man and the ball, and it’s a red card from my point of view. Even if we miss the penalty, it’s still 10 v 10. So it had a huge effect on the game.”
Despite being down to 10 men, the Blades won a first-half penalty when Targett fouled Chris Basham in the box. Martinez saved the post kick and Villa went on to win courtesy of Ezri Konza’s second-half header.
