Aston Villa chief calls out Manchester United’s last-gasp goal amid fiery rules debate

Aston Villa director of football Damian Vidagany has questioned why Patrick Dorgu’s last-gasp equaliser did not get ruled out. Dorgu rescued a point for Manchester United as they netted twice in second half stoppage time to draw 4-4 against Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday. The Red Devils defender headed Bruno Fernandes’ corner into a vacant goal after Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki failed in his attempt to swat the ball away. However, replays showed Suzuki may have been impeded in his efforts by United counterpart Senne Lammens, who had been sent up for the last-minute set piece. Lammens did not watch the ball as Fernandes’ corner was floated in and backed into Suzuki, preventing the Japanese gloveman from making clean contact. talkSPORT understands VAR checked Dorgu’s goal for any potential interference but did not deem Lammens’ actions worthy of an intervention. Yet Vidagany, who admitted Villa ‘must do better’ than how they finished the contest, was left to ponder why the goal stood. What did Damian Vidagany say about Patrick Dorgu’s goal? “To put in context this convenient narrative of ‘contact sport’ we’ve been told by referees during the summer that this season to go to unbalance or push the GK on purpose on the six hard (sic) box was not going to be allowed anymore,” Vidagany wrote on X. “Lammens not even look at the ball, went straight to do a contact with the hip over Zion. “Having said that we played good match and we must do better than last six minutes. We will do and we will improve. “But the rules are the rules and must be respected. That is a fact.” Villa boss Unai Emery, who headed down the tunnel immediately after Dorgu’s late dagger, also alluded to Lammens blocking Suzuki when speaking after the contest. Emery said United’s players were ‘pushing and disturbing’ Suzuki on the corner, something they ‘do not permit’ in other countries. Dorgu dagger extends brutal Villa run at Old Trafford It was an exceptionally brutal finish to the game for Villa, who led 2-0 and 4-2 against the Red Devils but failed to see out the victory. Alysson and Nicolas Jackson got the Villans off to a dream start at Old Trafford within the opening four minutes. But the two-goal buffer was wiped out by a Fernandes penalty and Youri Tielemans, who joined United from Villa in the summer. John McGinn and Leon Goretzka restored Villa’s advantage shortly after the break, only for Joshua Zirkzee and Dorgu to salvage the most dramatic of points in second half stoppage time. The result continued Villa’s luckless run at Old Trafford, having won just once at the famous ground since December 2009. Despite the frustrating finish, Villa are now unbeaten in their last six league fixtures and sit 10th in the table. As for United, the draw meant they go into the November international break in the relegation zone with eight points, one behind 17th-placed Coventry City.