Unai Emery responds to major Robin van Persie claim after Aston Villa’s win at Feyenoord

Robin van Persie claimed referee Rade Obrenovic apologised to him at half-time as Feyenoord lost 2-0 to Aston Villa

Robin van Persie has alleged that referee Rade Obrenovic apologised for not awarding Feyenoord a goal in the first half of their 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa in the Europa League. Tsuyoshi Watanabe was deemed to have fouled Matty Cash in the box, before Ayase Ueda seemed to force the ball over the line despite Marco Bizot’s best efforts.

Villa found themselves under siege during the first half, but stand-in keeper Bizot – filling in for Emi Martínez – pulled off several crucial saves.

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However, post-match, Van Persie took issue with Obrenovic’s decision not to award Feyenoord the goal.

“I checked with the referee, and he said he was sorry,” Van Persie told Ziggo Sport. “He apologised. He thought one of us was blocking an opponent. That wasn’t the case.

Speaking on TNT Sports, he added: “I don’t think it was the right call. The referee was talking about a block, and that someone for Villa was blocked, but that was not the case. It was a clear goal and that’s a really important decision.

“The referee said sorry to me. I went to see him at half-time, he thought someone was blocking but said sorry a couple of times. It was a shame and had a big influence on the game.”

Villa contested the claim that the referee had apologised for not awarding the goal, after Unai Emery was asked about Van Persie’s comments during his press conference.

“Of course, it’s different when we play in Europe, the referees and their decisions,” Emery explained. “We have to adapt and change our point of view and expectations with the referees.

“I don’t know. We had a lot of circumstances in 90 minutes with the referee. Sometimes it was offside and onside. I think the Watkins chance was onside. We can speak about different moments and we can agree or not. Both coaches and teams.”

When asked about Van Persie’s suggestion that Villa were fortunate in the match, Emery responded: “I can understand his point of view of the match, but lucky or unlucky, we can speak deeply about it, but I don’t believe in unlucky or lucky. I like the work.

“When you are not dominating, sometimes you have to be resilient and your mentality is important to get through bad moments. I understand that he played a fantastic match, the first half better than the second. The atmosphere was huge for them, they felt comfortable.”

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