Aston Villa: Patrick Bamford’s deceit could have play-off ramifications

Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford feigned a phantom elbow to the face. As a result, Aston Villa winger Anwar El Ghazi received a red card and subsequent three-game suspension that it entails.

In case you are living under a rock, Aston Villa and Leeds United played a game today in which a brawl broke out following a controversial goal. Scoreless at half-time, the Whites entered the second-half a better side as Villa counter-punched on the defensive end.

Then, hell broke loose around the 72nd-minute when Jonathan Kodjia collided with a defender and his head hit the pitch. The referee – Stuart Attwell – allowed play to continue as Leeds cycled the ball wide left. Tyler Roberts signaled twice with his hand, slowing down as he does it, that he would put the ball out-of-play (just as Villa had done for Leeds minutes earlier near a corner flag – passing on an attacking opportunity).

But he doesn’t. Roberts pushes the ball forward for an offside (!) Mateusz Klich as the Villa backline and midfield stood frozen for a second. Klich was able to cut inside, off Axel Tuanzebe, and slot it past goalkeeper Jed Steer.

You can watch for yourself here:

A brawl ensued as Conor Hourihane and Tyrone Mings confronted the goalscorer Klich. Attwell lost control of the game much earlier, if we are to be honest. He and his team missed three penalty calls in the first 70 minutes – two for Villa and one for Leeds.

Amidst the scrum, Attwell conferred with his assistant referee and gave Anwar El Ghazi a straight red card. In the clip linked above, El Ghazi got into it with Leeds’ striker Pat Bamford, when, all of a sudden, Bamford clutches his face and goes to ground.

I suppose (?) the assistant thought he and Attwell had seen El Ghazi strike the player. It never happened, or even came close to happening, as several Twitter clips have shown. Now, El Ghazi is at the mercy of higher-ups within the league to rescind the decision and three-game ban. The suspension would cover Villa’s final league game vs. Norwich and two play-off semi-final legs.

It’s going to be rescinded, or so expects Villa manager Dean Smith.

But to have it come to this is shameful, and quite honestly, embarrassing, for Bamford.

Mateusz Klich found time to seek out Smith and apologize, but it’s unknown if others did as well.