Controversial Aston Villa incident leaves rival ‘even more sad’

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AZ Alkmaar midfielder Jordy Clasie has vented his frustrations about the controversial goal Diego Carlos scored as Aston Villa won their Europa Conference League tie 2-1.

The Villans came from behind to beat the Eredivisie outfit at Villa Park on Thursday. Vangelis Pavlidis (52’) gave AZ Alkmaar the lead in the Group E affair. But Carlos (61’) drew Aston Villa level before Ollie Watkins (81’) struck a late winner to put Unai Emery’s side in second place.

Whilst controversial, the win all but secured Aston Villa a place in the knockout stages. Legia Warsaw lead Group E after beating the Birmingham outfit. The two sides are locked on nine points ahead of HSK Zrinjski Mostar and AZ Alkmaar on three points with two games to play.

Carlos scored Aston Villa’s equaliser from a controversial corner vs AZ Alkmaar

Pavlidis kept AZ Alkmaar’s hopes of making the knockout stages alive after scoring at Aston Villa. He burst clear after finding a route through the Villans’ high backline and lifted the ball around Emiliano Martinez. It was a simple route-one move that did the trick for the visitors.

But their joy was short-lived as Carlos soon dragged the match level with a fortunate header into the far corner. Aston Villa won a corner kick despite Boubacar Kamara skying his shot as Clasie applied pressure. Carlos then hit from Leon Bailey’s corner that should not have been.

Carlos scoring left Clasie ‘even more sad’ after referee Godinho ignored his protest

Kamara clearly spooned his shot over the crossbar from close range with Clasie not in touch of the Villa midfielder. But the referee pointed for an Aston Villa corner and Carlos made AZ Alkmaar pay. Watkins then added to their dismay with a late header to secure three points.

Clasie admits he immediately told Portuguese referee Luis Godinho that it was not a corner. Carlos then heightened the former Southampton man’s misery by scoring the controversial equaliser in the Europa Conference League tie that effectively fixed the top two in Group E.

“It was not a corner, 100%,” Clasie vented, via NU.nl. “I immediately said it to the referee. The fact that the ball then flies in from the given corner kick makes it even more sad.”