It was crazy – Unai Emery angry as Elliot Anderson avoids red in loss at Forest

Angry Aston Villa boss Unai Emery said it was “crazy” that Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson avoided a red card in the Europa League semi-final first leg.

Forest seized the advantage after Chris Wood’s second-half penalty earned a 1-0 win at the City Ground, coming after VAR intervened to rule the ball had not gone out before Lucas Digne handled.

But Emery was fuming that the technology did not get used for Anderson’s first-half tackle on Ollie Watkins, which looked to have caught his England team-mate on the ankle with his studs.

“I watched the action of Anderson on Watkins, and the referee did a fantastic job,” Emery said. “I was so, so feeling comfortable with how he managed the game in 90 minutes, but after watching it again, it is the VAR responsibility.

“It is a huge mistake, a huge mistake. Ollie Watkins was close to breaking his ankle. The VAR has a huge responsibility and he must give us an explanation. It is crazy.

“The ref can’t watch it like me. One action like that can break his ankle. The VAR makes sense if they are fair. What is your opinion? Wow.

“In football I work 20 years as a coach, sometimes decisions are tight. I am 100 per cent with VAR, but we must manage it good and in the right way. One action like that, there is no doubt. Where is VAR?”

Had Forest been down to 10 men it might have been a different story as Vitor Pereira’s men put themselves 90 minutes away from a first European final since the glory days of Brian Clough.

It was an even contest in the late April sunshine, with both goalkeepers making fine saves to keep the score level.

The decisive moment came in the 70th minute when Omari Hutchinson kept the ball in and Digne handled, with Wood dispatching the penalty in style.

Pereira has some way to go before reaching Clough’s status, but he has masterminded a stark turnaround of Forest’s fortunes as they are now nine games unbeaten in all competitions.

“It was a very tough game, which was not a surprise. They have a strong team and a top manager, working together for a long time,” the Portuguese said.

“We had some injury problems, which we were not expecting. But in the end, we changed the players but we did not change our spirit. We have the spirit to compete to win the game, trying to play in our way.

“We tried to press them, we tried to be compact, we tried to face them eye to eye, to compete for the result.

“We are at half-time. We will face another tough game. But we will go there not to defend, but to win the game.

“This is the spirit of this team; a special team and an honour for me to manage, because they have the character; they have the quality and the personality.

“They have had four managers in the same season and it is not easy to be in this moment and to compete at this level.”