Former Leeds United defender Ian Harte has slammed the way that Aston Villa players acted during the two sides’ contentious 1-1 draw on Sunday, suggesting that it was a “disgrace”.
Villa were handed an equalising goal by United boss Marcelo Bielsa after Mateusz Klich scored an opener following his failure to put the ball out of play for an opposition injury – an incident that led to altercations on and off the field.
Amongst those scenes, Villa player Conor Hourihane seemed to strike Klich in the chest, but received no punishment at the time, leaving Harte less than impressed.
Writing on his personal Twitter account, retweeting footage of the incident, he said: “It’s a disgrace that Villa players get away with what they did.
“But Leeds United get done every time… As an ex-footballer you DON’T stop until the referee says!!!”
It’s a disgrace that Villa players get away with what they did ? But Leeds United get done every time…. As a ex footballer you DONT stop until the referee says!!! https://t.co/JkKP3HwSrV
— Ian Harte (@ianharte23) April 30, 2019
OPINION
Harte is bound to feel aggrieved after seeing this footage. Hourihane clearly strikes Klich in the chest, and there looks to be real malicious intent behind the blow. That’s not acceptable, and you would hope that the EFL pull their finger out and give the Irishman some kind of ban for what he did. The fact of the matter is that Leeds were in the wrong from a moral standpoint, but they avenged that by allowing Villa to score, and, technically, they didn’t break any laws of the game with the goal. The ball probably should have gone out of play, yes, but there’s no rules to say it has to, and the responsibility now lies with the referee to intervene. The whole thing was a massively unseemly mess, but regardless of how infuriating Klich’s actions were, that does not provide Hourihane with an excuse to punch him. Action has to be taken against the Villa man.