Aston Villa receive apology over Clement Lenglet disallowed goal as mistake admitted
The French defender thought he had scored inside three minutes of the Conference League fixture against AZ Alkmaar, only for it to be ruled out following a VAR review
Aston Villa received an apology from officials after Clement Lenglet’s header was wrongly disallowed in their win over AZ Alkmaar, midfielder Youri Tielemans has revealed.
Villa thought they had made a brilliant start to their Europa Conference League fixture when the French defender headed into the net inside the first three minutes. But a VAR review ruled the goal out for offside.
After AZ took the lead, Villa then needed a comeback, with Diego Carlos netting the equaliser before Ollie Watkins’ late winner. However, their task would perhaps have been more simple had the Lenglet header not been ruled out. It was a mistake to do so, Villa have been told.
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Asked if Villa had heard from the officials about the goal, Tielemans told TNT Sports: "Yes, that’s what we’ve been told. Unfortunately it was a mistake from them and they apologised. In the end it’s okay.”
It was then pointed out to Tielemans that there was no defensive touch on the ball in the build-up to the corner from which Carlos netted the equaliser. He replied: “Okay, then it’s two mistakes.”
The result puts Villa level on points with Legia Warsaw at the top of the group. The two sides meet each other in the next round of fixtures at the end of the month.
"It was very tough,” Tielemans said of the AZ match. “We knew from the first game they would come and try to get a result here, which they nearly did. We had to be really patient and fight until the end. In the end we won so it's all good.
"Legia are a tough team to play against. They’ve managed to pick up nine points like we have. The next game will be very important."