'Can't be much more blatant than that' - BT Sport man feels Villa were hard done by v Arsenal

Darren Fletcher has questioned the decision not to award Aston Villa a penalty in the first half of their Premier League clash with Arsenal on Saturday. 

Following last weekend’s reverse at West Ham United, Villa suffered a second consecutive defeat at home against the Gunners, as Bukayo Saka’s first half strike proved to be the difference between the two teams.

However, as Arsenal defended a corner prior to half-time, Thomas Partey could be seen grappling with Villa skipper Tyrone Mings, but neither referee Andy Madley nor VAR official Jonathan Moss deemed the challenge worthy of a spot kick for the hosts.

After seeing a replay of the incident, Fletcher stopped short of declaring it a penalty but hinted that Partey was lucky to get away without being penalised.

During his commentary on BT Sport’s coverage of the match, he wondered: “It can’t be much more blatant than that unless you wrestle him to the ground, can it?”

This wasn’t the only call during the game which led to some bemusement.

The Athletic’s Gregg Evans disputed the decision to award Mings a yellow card in the first period for a tackle on Saka. While he accepted that the Villa captain ‘caught him on the follow through’, he insisted that the defender ‘literally couldn’t stop’ and ‘won the ball cleanly’, adamant that it was ‘never a foul’.

Therefore, it seems clear that Steven Gerrard may feel somewhat aggrieved with some of Madley’s subjective verdicts today.

In other news, Ashley Preece reacts as Villa Park contract news emerges

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