Matty Cash demands Villa teammates ‘adapt’ after being denied Juventus win

Matty Cash says Aston Villa must adapt to European referees as he refused to blame officialdom for the disallowed 'goal' that denied them a famous win over Juventus.

The Villa right-back stood next to referee Gil Manzano as he gave the decision after a foul on visiting keeper Michele Di Gregorio, who clumsily dropped Youri Tielemans' free-kick in what was the final action of the match.

Morgan Rogers thought he had secured victory by kicking the ball into an unguarded net, before the Spanish referee stopped the celebrations after Di Gregorio was blocked by Diego Carlos. Villa Park was in disarray as it was unclear whether Manzano – by pointing to the pitch – had scored the goal or a free kick. And play stopped for a VAR check that also went unannounced.

In the end, it turned out that Juve had earned a point from the goalless stalemate. And Cash said the different application of the laws partly explained why the prize was not awarded.

He said: “The referee was standing next to me so I could see he had blown. I didn't go there to celebrate, because I knew. But I don't think anyone else knew it wasn't a goal.

“European football is obviously a bit different. No disrespect to the referees, but you probably commit a lot more fouls in European football, as we discovered in the Conference League last year.

“You have to adapt. You can't really touch many players now, otherwise it's a foul. I said to the referee tonight: it is difficult to control every situation in big matches. We all make mistakes and sometimes the referees will make mistakes.

“That's just football, you know. We are all human. We all make mistakes and he has a big job refereeing the big game tonight. It's hard. They try to do the best they can and so do we. Overall it was fair.”

The other talking point was Emi Martinez's save midway through the second half that ensured Villa kept a clean sheet. The Argentinian somehow turned his body to the right to get a hand on Francisco Conceicao's header from close range at the back post after a right corner.

It came on the night Martinez became the first shot stopper to receive a second straight Lev Yashin award. Cash said: “Yes, it was an incredible save. To be honest, I thought it was in there, but yeah, it was incredible. Mind you, that's what he's there for, he's a goalkeeper.”