Aston Villa manager Unai Emery launched an extraordinary tirade against the video assistant referee following his team's 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest in the Europa League semi-final first leg, claiming the official should have sent off Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson for a dangerous tackle.
Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, Emery was irate that Anderson escaped punishment for a first-half challenge that caught Ollie Watkins on the ankle with studs up. "Fantastic, the referee, fantastic. But the VAR is so, so bad. It's a clear red card — I don't understand why the VAR is not calling the referee because it's so clear," Emery said.
"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 watched it back — wow. Huge. He could break his ankle. Wow, VAR — where are you? Please. It is your responsibility, we are professionals. You are doing very bad work because it was so clear for everybody [to see]. He could break his ankle."
Referee Joao Pinheiro did not penalize Anderson, and a brief VAR review deemed the incident clean. Forest later won via a VAR-awarded penalty, converted by Chris Wood after Lucas Digne handled a cross. Emery accepted that decision but remained fixated on the earlier non-call.
In the post-match news conference, Emery continued: "I watched the action of Anderson on Watkins, and the referee did a fantastic job. I was so, so feeling comfortable with how he managed the game in 90 minutes, but after watching it again, it is the VAR responsibility. It is a huge mistake — a huge mistake. Ollie Watkins was close to breaking his ankle. The VAR has a huge responsibility and he must give us an explanation. It is crazy!"
"The ref can't watch it like me. One action like that can break his ankle. The VAR makes sense if they are fair. What is your opinion?" he added, demanding accountability from the officials.