Aston Villa Prepare Evidence for El Ghazi Appeal and Want Bamford Ban

According to Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett, Aston Villa this morning are preparing video evidence in support of appealing Anwar El Ghazi’s shocking red card in yesterday’s game at Elland Road.

The game saw a goal come from a dubious moral decision from leads player Mateusz Klich, which led to a mass brawl inside the Aston Villa box, with the likes of Conor Hourihane, Jack Grealish, Tyrone Mings, Neil Taylor, Ahmed Elmohamady and El Ghazi himself all involved for the Villa.

After the brawl, the linesman and referee, Stuart Atwell were seen discussing the outbreak and the linesman could be seen mentioning an ‘elbow to the face’ from a certain Aston Villa player. Following this discussion, the referee walked up to winger Anwar El Ghazi and brandished a straight red card – much to the shock of both the player and the away fans. 

The former Ajax man pleaded his case as expected, looking bewildered that he was being sent off, and could be seen saying “Me? What have I done?”. This came as a number of other players on both sides were given yellow cards for their involvement, including Patrick Bamford.

The red card came from an ‘alleged’ elbow to the face in a tussle involving Patrick Bamford and Anwar El Ghazi, in which the former was overtly theatrical, grabbing his face and dropping to the floor. 

Further looks into the event, including video replays, show Bamford gripping El Ghazi around the shoulders as the Dutchman spins away to avoid the grasp of the Leeds forward – making little to no contact in the process – and definitely not with an elbow to the player’s face.

This also comes as pictures have emerged of Bamford flooring Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane with a forearm to the throat.

It seems as if, as Dean Smith said post-game, that the ban will not be upheld, and with their video evidence, Anwar El Ghazi should return to the squad without serving any of his disciplinary ban. 

However, whispers are that the Aston Villa heads will be placing evidence condemning Patrick Bamford, and that they will call for him to be banned for simulation that caused Aston Villa to continue the game with ten men.