Aston Villa boss Dean Smith has claimed that the decision to send off Ezri Konsa for a professional foul against West Ham United was "wrong".
With Villa trailing by a 2-1 scoreline, the referee ignored the possibility of a red card for Kortney Hause to dismiss Konsa for an incident which occurred seconds later on the advice of VAR.
Although Villa impressed when down to 10 men, two late goals from the Hammers secured a convincing victory in the West Midlands.
While acknowledging that Hause could have been given a red card for an elbow on Pablo Fornals, Smith has hit out at the decision to send off Konsa for tripping Jarrod Bowen when he was last man.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Smith said: "The red card was the wrong decision; the referee saw it in real time. I asked him why and he said because he was in on goal and the ball was moving towards the goal. Clearly, it wasn't.
"After that, the sending off galvanised us because we played well for 20 minutes after that. Kortney Hause could have been sent off but he wasn't. They decided that wasn't a red."
Villa remain in 15th position in the Premier League standings, just three points above the relegation zone.
Darren Plant
