'Break someone's cheek?' - Steven Gerrard lambasts Aston Villa referee decision

Steven Gerrard claimed how Burnley striker Ashley Barnes "smashed" Tyrone Mings in the face in the opening moments of Aston Villa's 1-1 draw with the Clarets. Barnes competed for a high ball with Villa's skipper and elbowed Mings in the side of his face.

Referee Paul Tierney didn't stop play, which led to Mings shouting out, 'How was that not a foul?' It was Barnes who later stepped up to fire Burnley into the lead from the penalty spot before Emi Buendia's volley cancelled that out.

On the incident involving Barnes' elbow, Gerrard fumed: "I think we should have been playing against 10 men from a very early stage of this game. It was a clear red card and probably one of the clearest I've seen this season. That decision went against us and we made an individual error to make the task and challenge more complicated for ourselves.

"Apparently, the PGMOL said that there wasn't enough force for that to be a red card. Now, I heard it and I was 60 yards away. He ran into the incident from 10 yards, he pulled his elbow back and he smashed him in the face. I mean, have you got to break someone's cheek or have you got to make someone go off for it to be a red card? Everyone knows it's a red card. It's a fact."

Gerrard added: "There's four officials outside with VAR. We've also got a group now, outside of that, who all think that wasn't a red card. Now, I have to disagree with them all. For me, it was a clear red card. Ashley Barnes got away with one for sure, it's as simple as that. Does anyone disagree with that in the room? Does anyone disagree with that, no?"