Aston Villa have been told that they should have been awarded a penalty in their 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest. Morgan Rogers was hauled to the ground in the penalty area by Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson just over half an hour into the game, however the referee did not award a spot kick and VAR did not intervene.

The Villa players all threw their hands up in unison at the time of the incident, and manager Unai Emery, who very rarely calls referees into question, said it was a "clear penalty" and a "massive mistake" from VAR.

Emery's men went 1-0 up in the 63rd minute thanks to a brilliant Jhon Durán header, the man of the moment nodding in John McGinn's ball. They could not hold on, though, as Forest equalised with three minutes of normal time to go, Nikola Milenković putting them on level terms, before Anthony Elanga scored a 93rd minute winner to take them into fourth place and three points ahead of Villa.

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Had the Villans been awarded the penalty, they could have taken the lead of the game much earlier and proceedings could very much have panned out differently than the late drama that saw them lose the match.

Former referee Keith Hackett has spoken out against the decision and criticised PGMOL and its chief, Howard Webb.

"This is a clear holding offence that impacts on the attacking player," Hackett, who refereed the 1981 FA Cup final, told Villa News .

"A penalty kick should have been awarded.

"To say that the holding offence did not impact on the player is abject nonsense. The referee Sam Barrott should have been sent to the screen to have a second look.

"Frankly the PGMOL under the leadership of Howard Webb needs to sort out the mess on holding that is continually going unpunished."

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