Unai Emery: Villa boss furious with VAR for not sending off Elliott Anderson

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery was highly critical of the video assistant referee for not sending off Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliott Anderson for two emotional rants after his team. 1-0 loss in the first leg Their Europa League semi-final.

Anderson avoided punishment for a sliding tackle in the first half in which he won the ball but then caught Ollie Watkins’ ankle with a high, studs-up challenge.

Referee Joao Pinheiro didn’t take action – and there appeared to be a very brief VAR review before the incident was cleared.

Forest would go on to win with a VAR-awarded penalty which Chris Wood scored – but Emery took the decision.

“Fantastic, the referee, fantastic,” Emery told TNT Sports. “But VAR is very bad. It’s a clear red card – I don’t understand why VAR doesn’t call the referee because it’s so clear.

“And that’s very, very important. It’s a huge, huge mistake. VAR is responsible.

“The referee – fantastic, fantastic job, 10 out of 10. I appreciated how he managed the match for 90 minutes.

“But I saw it back – wow. Huge. He could break his ankle. Wow, VAR – where are you? Please. It’s your responsibility, we’re professionals. You’re doing a really bad job because it was so obvious (to see). He could break his ankle.

“I always respect the referee but VAR, I don’t understand. It’s not right.”