Aston Villa secured a comeback win against 10 man Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium, trailing 1-0 at half-time but scoring twice in the final 13 minutes through Alex Moreno and Ollie Watkins.
This victory marked Villa’s third straight win in the Premier League, propelling them to second place ahead of Liverpool’s match against Manchester United. Both goals for Villa came after Ben Mee’s red card in the 71st minute, adding to the second-half chaos.
The drama continued with Boubacar Kamara’s red card in stoppage time, leading to some tension as Villa players were booed off the pitch by the home fans. Thomas Frank had a conversation with former striker Watkins before heading down the tunnel.
After the game, Frank expressed his frustrations, citing what he believed were three refereeing decisions that wrongly went against his Brentford team. The post-match discussion highlighted the contentious moments that contributed to the match’s intensity and the dissatisfaction felt by the Brentford manager regarding the officiating.
“It’s just sometimes a little bit tough to take when you are hard done by in three crucial situations in the game,” he told BBC Sport.
“I think for me, I don’t think David (Coote, the referee) got enough help from the VAR room today, I know it’s something he needs help from. I think it’s a clear penalty on Ben Mee, from the rules we’ve been told that they need to look at, of course, I’m no ref, maybe I’m wrong. I think the red card to Ben Mee, for me is not a red card.”
He then proceeded to comment on the distasteful scenes at full time: “In the end, I didn’t like all the incidents, that’s not how the game should be played. I think it’s very important to show as much class as possible, it’s difficult, I don’t do it every single time, and I’m always irritated with myself when it happens.”