Aston Villa have been left fuming in their clash against Tottenham.
Villa went in at half-time level with Tottenham after Morgan Rogers netted a stunning goal to bring the away side level in North London.
The England star continued his excellent form after Rogers also scored against Wales during the international break.
This cancelled out one-time Villa target Rodrigo Bentancur’s strike within the opening five minutes at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
It isn’t this that Villa fans have taken issue with, it is the actions of referee Simon Hooper that caused widespread fury in the away end.
Simon Hooper in Tottenham vs Aston Villa controversy
The clash against Thomas Frank’s side has certainly been different to the more smooth sailing 2-1 Villa win against Burnley last time around.
Rogers’ goal was a moment of inspiration, but it shouldn’t take away from how shoddy the performance had been until that point.
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The strike from the attacking midfielder was the shining moment, but was somewhat clouded over by a moment of huge controversy from Hooper.
Pedro Porro struck a free kick which clearly made contact with the match official before making its way beyond John McGinn to Mohammed Kudus.
The Ghana international so nearly found Mathys Tel from the subsequent cross, causing fury among the Villa players and fans alike.
Former Villa forward Garry Thompson was left baffled by the lack of a drop ball as he spoke out live via BBC Radio WM on 19 October.
He said: “The referee has just played on? They’ve all gone straight to the referee and had a word. He’s just pared them off, he’s not having it at all.
“Tel comes in at the far post and misses the ball completely, but if he gets the connection and scores, what does the referee do then?“
Hooper disregards IFAB laws with Tottenham vs Aston Villa decision
If the ball strikes the match official, it is common knowledge that a drop ball is awarded to the side that played the ball last.
Porro’s free kick undoubtedly struck Hooper, and as McGinn and Co. protested, it should have been awarded as such at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
As per IFAB Law 9, their FAQs section details a situation where team A plays the ball, it strikes the referee, but team A are able to continue and form a promising attack.
The answer states, “The ball is out of play when it touches a match official and a team starts a promising attack. In this case, play is restarted with a dropped ball for one player of Team A at the position of the ball when play was stopped by the referee, because Team A had possession at that time.“
Fortunately for Villa, a goal didn’t come off the back of this, but it is clear as day that Hooper went against IFAB rules in allowing play to continue with Kudus.