Aston Villa rage at referee as Champions League hopes end at Manchester United

On 73 minutes here came a moment that Aston Villa argued afterwards might have cost them the bumper prize of Champions League football next season and its lucrative cash injection of millions, and which promoted an official complaint about why Thomas Bramall and not a more experienced referee was in charge.

A weak Harry Maguire header had Altay Bayindir scrambling to collect. As he did, Morgan Rogers prodded the ball from his clutches – the goalkeeper did not appear to have it under control – and the forward found the empty net.

Cue pandemonium because Bramall, a select group 1 official since 2022, had blown his whistle before the strike so the video assistant referee could not intervene – and so cue, too, Unai Emery and his players going ballistic at the referee and his officials as the match remained scoreless.

View image in fullscreen Amad Diallo guides his header past Robin Olsen to give Manchester United the lead just minutes after Villa were wrongly denied a goal. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images

This being the funniest of old games, what happened next was predictable. A Bruno Fernandes cross was met by Amad Diallo’s head, Robin Olsen, on for the sent off Emiliano Martínez, was beaten in Villa’s goal and Emery’s men were down to sixth – despite Newcastle losing against Everton.

A madcap end to the contest next featured Ian Maatsen taking down Diallo as the wideman surged into the area and Bramall awarding a penalty that drew sarcastic Emery applause. Christian Eriksen converted and the home congregation offered gleeful waves to Villa’s fans.

The visitors’ Champions League hopes then rested on a comeback in eight added minutes. It did not happen and so Villa were heartbroken, with a still-furious Emery soon to cite the Rogers-Bayindir farrago as killing them, as the “key moment” that turned the contest, though the Spaniard was later measured.

As Bramall reached the tunnel Emery waited for him: obviously not to inquire about the referee’s health – he later stated the referee admitted his error. And for United, their push to avoid 17th was successful and they finished in the vertigo-inducing heights of 15th.

Then, on the pitch, goodbyes for Victor Lindelöf, Eriksen and Jonny Evans – the last finishing a second spell at United – while Alejandro Garnacho, not chosen in Ruben Amorim’s matchday squad, joined the squad for a lap of appreciation that came after the head coach apologised for the season and offered a bold statement: “The good days are coming.”

Before the breathless last act of this season-closer, Villa’s delighted support had chorused “something tells me I’m into something good”, their team at that point in the promised land of the Champions League. This was prompted when, in the second half, Everton scored at Newcastle and Villa were up to fifth – yet it was a jubilation that soured as much as United’s season did after Amorim took over.

When Erik ten Hag was sacked on 28 October, United were seven points from a Champions League berth. It was not in the playbook when Sir Jim Ratcliffe war-gamed removing Ten Hag and recruiting Amorim that the club would face a last-day dog‑fight to avoid finishing the worst of the non-relegated.

Nor was it the plan that a fast young aggressive winger in the storied tradition of the 20-time champions would be excluded from the squad and be (seemingly) a footballer non grata heading for the summer market. But such is Garnacho’s situation.

How about, too, another homegrown starlet, who started England’s Euro 2024 final, being unable to get a starting berth in midfield ahead of a creaking 33-year-old Casemiro? That has been Kobbie Mainoo’s fate.

Or a latest action from The 1958 fan group, this one a pre-game march down Sir Matt Busby Way, to protest against 20 years of troubled Glazer ownership?

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View image in fullscreen Emiliano Martínez barges into Rasmus Højlund for the first-half red card that gave Villa a mountain to climb. Photograph: Craig Brough/Action Images/Reuters

Here was Ratcliffe’s brave new United world as Noussair Mazraoui’s blistering run broke Villa open in a bright start. A cross was met by Mason Mount, whose shot failed to beat Martínez, and when Ayden Heaven recycled the ball the No 7 had to head home from point-blank range. But, no, again Villa’s No 1 saved, as he did when Fernandes fired straight at him moments later.

All day, Emery’s men were nervy, kicking passes out or straight to Casemiro when playing from the back. United knocked incessantly on the door. Diallo was next to miss, again with a near-range header, this one defeating Martínez yet not his right post.

Villa, though, are versed in how powder-puff United are and when they finally launched a raid, numbers flooded the area, and if John McGinn had pulled the trigger they might have taken the lead.

It proved a collector’s item as United continued to throttle them. After Mazraoui limped off on 20 minutes – replaced by Diogo Dalot – a raking Maguire diagonal dropped to Mount, who fashioned a grass-cutter aimed for the lurking Rasmus Højlund. It was blocked but here was the rapid back-to-front move recently added by Amorim to United’s armoury.

Now, crisis for the visitors. A loose Matty Cash pass back sold Martínez short, Højlund flicked the ball on, the goalkeeper barged the No 9 over, and out came Bramall’s red card.

The referee was as correct as Dalot’s 20-yard effort soon after was ballooned wildly and so at the break United were 17th and Villa sixth – on goal difference. But this proved the relative calm before the tempest.

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