Aston Villa: Former referee slams Michael Oliver over Douglas Luiz red card
Michael Oliver #MichaelOliver
Aston Villa suffered a disheartening defeat last week as they lost 3-0 to Fulham at Craven Cottage, which ultimately led to Steven Gerrard getting the sack.
One incident in the game that turned out to be a big talking point saw referee Michael Oliver brandishing a red card to Douglas Luiz after a skirmish with Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Having watched the incident on the pitchside monitor, Oliver decided to send the Villa midfielder off with 62 minutes on the clock.
Fortunately for Villa, this red card was revoked by the FA, therefore allowing the Brazilian to play in their recent 4-0 win over Brentford.
Now that the matter has been settled, it appears as though one former referee believes that Oliver should be punished for his seemingly incorrect decision to send Luiz off.
Speaking to Football Insider, former referee Keith Hackett said: “When a referee does that, I think they should lose a game.
“There has to be some form of accountability when a referee makes a mistake of this magnitude. A sending-off could have a massive impact on a game.
“I’m suggesting when a referee makes a major error they are taken out of the next game and should receive some operational advice.
“It is what I used to do when I was head of the PGMOL.
“It’s why we have professional referees, they are there to get every decision right. It’s not humanly possible to do that but it’s the target.”
Bearing in mind how Luiz had a rather impressive performance in the win against Brentford by making three key passes, three tackles and two interceptions, it’s safe to say that seeing his red card revoked by the FA turned out to be a big positive for the Villans.
Regardless of what accountability there is or isn’t for referees making incorrect decisions, the only focus Villa will have now is to move on from the incident and hope that Luiz and the rest of the team can keep putting in performances like they did against Thomas Frank’s side.