A flummoxed Dean Smith insists the officials were the only people inside the Etihad who thought Man City\u2019s opening goal should have stood in Aston Villa\u2019s 2-0 defeat.<\/p>\n
Bernardo Silva controversially broke the deadlock in the 79th minute as Rodri came from an offside position to tackle Tyrone Mings, before eventually playing the ball to Silva, who made no mistake in superbly slotting it past a stunned Emiliano Martinez.<\/p>\n
However, according to the laws of the game, Mings\u2019 \u2018deliberate\u2019 play for the ball meant the goal was valid, which left Villa boss Smith fuming and was subsequently sent off by referee Jon Moss for voicing his dissent.<\/p>\n
Aston Villa boss Smith was \u2018flummoxed by the nature of the goals\u2019.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI would expect my players to put the ball in the back of the net as well, so it\u2019s nothing against Manchester City players at all.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just don\u2019t understand the ruling. If somebody is offside and they\u2019re taking advantage of that offside position by tackling from behind, then surely that\u2019s offside?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anyone in this stadium apart from the officials who think that\u2019s a goal. That\u2019s why we\u2019re so frustrated.<\/p>\n
\u201cManchester City had a lot of chances, they\u2019re a good team and we never broke their possession up as good as we normally do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought we started the second-half really slowly, but they missed the chances. They didn\u2019t put the ball in the back of the net and we got some really good blocks in.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goalkeeper made some really good saves. So to lose the game on two decisions like that is very tough to take.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moss had initially flashed a yellow card to Dean, before quickly upgrading the punishment to a red.<\/p>\n
Smith is convinced he was treated differently to other managers in that situation as he reckoned other Premier League managers would not have been sent off.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cIt certainly wasn\u2019t [for swearing]. There\u2019s nothing that can get censored.<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked the fourth official if they\u2019d had juggling balls for Christmas and he [the referee] produced a yellow card and said he was doing his interpretation of the laws of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018well you should have started that earlier in the game\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I got treated differently to other managers there because if any other manager actually says anything there, I don\u2019t think they get sent off for that at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mings, equally disgusted, wrote on Twitter afterwards:<\/p>\n
\u201cNever even heard of that rule, just let players stand offside, then run back and tackle you?<\/p>\n
\u201cIn hindsight I should\u2019ve cleared it, 100 per cent, but didn\u2019t even know that was the case. Nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n