Var Decision Dispute Dominates Europa League Semi-final As Forest Edge Villa 1-0

Unai Emery voiced strong frustration with VAR after Aston Villa’s 1-0 Europa League semi-final first-leg defeat to Nottingham Forest, insisting Elliot Anderson should have been sent off. Chris Wood’s 71st-minute penalty at the City Ground settled the all-Premier League tie, leaving Villa needing a comeback in the second leg to keep their European campaign alive.

The loss arrived at a difficult moment for Aston Villa, who were beaten 1-0 by Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday. Those setbacks mean Villa have now slipped to back-to-back defeats in all competitions for the third time this season. Forest, meanwhile, will carry a narrow advantage into the return meeting after edging a tight first encounter.

Emery accepted the penalty decision against Lucas Digne, whose raised arm blocked an Omari Hutchinson cross and was penalised after a VAR check. However, the Aston Villa head coach was stunned that Anderson’s first-half challenge on Ollie Watkins did not draw a red card. Anderson appeared to win the ball but then rolled over it, catching Watkins’ ankle in a dangerous follow-through.

Asked by TNT Sports about the incident, Emery delivered a lengthy criticism of the video officials. He said: "Fantastic from 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. It's a huge, huge mistake. VAR is responsible. The refereehe was fantastic, he did a fantastic job, 10 out of 10.I appreciated how he managed the match for 90 minutes. I watched it back, wow... Huge. He could break his ankle. VAR, where are you? It is your responsibility; we are professionals. It was so clear for everybody. He could break his ankle. It's not fair."

Emery stressed that the on-field referee handled the match well across the 90 minutes, repeatedly praising the performance. The dispute centred only on the VAR team, whom Emery blamed for not intervening. The Aston Villa manager felt the Anderson tackle risked serious injury for Watkins and argued that the video review officials failed in their professional duty.

Despite the result, Emery insisted Aston Villa executed the main parts of the pre-game plan. Reflecting on the performance, Emery said: "We couldn't score, we conceded, but we controlled things. We lost, but we did the match we planned. We had our chances to score and had momentum," emphasising that Villa created openings yet lacked the finishing touch.

Emery highlighted Aston Villa’s off-the-ball work against Nottingham Forest’s pressing game in the Europa League contest. "We were successful in stopping their high press; the match was going like we planned. We defended well. The penalty was one action that happened. I didn't watch the action or speak with him [Digne]. [On Friday], we will speak about everything. After the analysis, we can take something clear from it," Emery said.

The Spaniard explained that Aston Villa kept pushing for an equaliser but also tried to protect the aggregate scoreline. Emery said: "After the goal, we kept same idea to draw the match, but more important was not to concede another goal. The match is not finished; it continues next week. We must come back." Villa now require at least one goal in the second leg to stay in the Europa League.

The defeat was notable for Emery’s own record in European semi-finals. This was the first time the coach had lost a leg of a Europa League semi-final tie since May 2014, when Sevilla fell 3-1 at Valencia. Between that match and Thursday’s setback against Forest, Emery had gone eight semi-final games unbeaten in the competition, winning six and drawing two.

Aston Villa’s Europa League campaign had previously been strong, with this only their second defeat in the tournament this season. The other loss came 2-1 away to Go Ahead Eagles on matchday three of the league phase. Emery will now look to extend that generally positive European form, using the analysis of the first leg to adjust before the decisive return meeting.