Aston Villa: Leandro Bacuna Receives Six Match Suspension

Aston Villa versatile midfielder Leandro Bacuna received a six match suspension from the Football Association. Bacuna, who took advantage of a surprise start, bumped into the lineman and subsequently was issued a red card.

Make no mistake about it; what Leandro Bacuna did on Tuesday evening was mind-numbingly stupid. Bacuna, 25, bumped into the line judge during the dying embers of a 1-nil victory over Derby County.

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As opposed to collecting himself and hustling back into position, Bacuna opted to confront the line judge after a disagreement in possession. That was mistake number one. Mistake number two occurred when Bacuna slowly nudged himself forward until he came in contact with the linesman.

And like that, he was sent off – forcing Aston Villa to see out the final five-ish minutes with ten players. It did not matter that Bacuna barely bumped chests with him – he was immediately sent off.

Today, the FA issued a six match suspension to Leandro Bacuna. The Curaçao international will miss crucial matches against: Rotherham, Huddersfield Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Wigan Athletic, Norwich City, and QPR.

Villa will be without Bacuna through suspension and Gary Gardner through injury for the time being – leaving them just a little bit light in the central midfield department.

Now, the suspension is not a problem, but the length of the suspension seems harsh based on previous precedents set forth by the FA. The video below shows Bacuna’s actions.

Is this worse than Arsène Wenger shoving a fourth official, receiving a four match ban in the process? Moreover, Jonjo Shelvey received only a five match ban for using a racial slur against an Arab opponent.

Whatever the case may be, it is clear FA executives want to thwart this type of future behavior through excessive suspension.