Aston Villa react to 'strange' development as Newcastle United diehards all say the same thing

Unai Emery has bemoaned a VAR decision that cost his Aston Villa side a famous Champions League win - and it has brought back some painful memories for Newcastle United fans.

Aston Villa thought they had secured a 1-0 victory against the Serie A giants after Morgan Rogers broke the deadlock right at the death at Villa Park on Wednesday night. Rogers slotted home into an empty net after Michele Di Gregorio dropped Youri Tielemans' free-kick under pressure from Diego Carlos.

Jesus Gil Manzano initially gave the goal, but the referee reversed his decision in the 95th minute following a VAR check. Carlos was controversially adjudged to have fouled Di Gregorio as they competed in the air despite the Aston Villa defender having his eyes on the ball.

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A number of Newcastle fans took to social media to draw a parallel with a VAR call that went against the Magpies exactly a year ago. Newcastle were on course for another memorable victory against PSG when the Ligue 1 champions were bizarrely awarded a penalty kick in stoppage time despite referee Szymon Marciniak playing on after the ball came off Tino Livramento's chest first before then striking the right-back's elbow inside the box.

Twelve months on, Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins felt the decision to disallow Rogers' goal was 'soft' while Emery initially thought the referee gave it 'but when he changed, I was thinking it was strange'.

"It's clear it's the interpretation of the referee," the Aston Villa boss said. "Only the interpretation. We know here in England, 80% [of the time] it's not a foul and maybe in Europe it's a foul. Here in England, I know usually it's not a foul because it was very soft contact and, in Europe, it could be a foul.

"I think the referee at the beginning didn't whistle for a foul. In the beginning, he was giving us a goal. We have to accept it. I am watching that and, for me, it's not a foul."