Simon Mignolet reacts to 'harsh' Aston Villa penalty after Tyrone Mings punished
Tyrone Mings was penalised after he picked up the ball in the box as Aston Villa suffered defeat to Club Brugge in the Champions League.
Former Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has warned defenders and goalkeepers to be more aware of the rules after a costly error led to Aston Villa's defeat.
Now playing for Bruges, Mignolet watched from the other end as a misunderstanding between Emi Martinez and Tyrone Mings resulted in Unai Emery's side losing 1-0.
The blunder occurred when Martinez lightly tapped a goal-kick just outside the six-yard box, only for Mings to handle the ball, believing it was not in play.
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The referee disagreed, awarding a penalty which Hans Vanaken converted, handing Villa their first loss in four games.
This incident echoed a similar one involving Arsenal's David Raya and Gabriel, which had angered then Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel.
Reflecting on the situation, Mignolet said: "I’m aware of it. I always try to throw the ball to my defender at goal kicks. You never know, if the ball is outside the six-yard box and the defender touches the ball the goal-kick has been taken.
"I don’t know how the rule is precisely decided. You don’t know how the referee is going to interpret these kind of things. But there’s a reason why we throw the ball."
"Sometimes when you rush yourself it goes a little bit quick and part of doing it out of habit you kick the ball to him, then it depends how the referee is going to interpret it.
"There is also the debate that if you kick it to him and you haven’t re-started and an attacker comes to press...then it works both ways. That’s why I throw the ball, so this doesn’t happen."
He added: "It’s very harsh but I am very lucky I was on the right end of it."
Reflecting on his team's performance, Mignolet felt certain Club Brugge deserved their victory against Aston Villa: "The goal was like but we deserved it in terms of chances.
"Aston Villa are a really strong team and we tried to play it tactically, close between the lines, we didn’t give any space to them in attack because they have got some players who can make a difference.
"The scenario turned out well - we scored in the right moment and then we could be dangerous on the counter attack. They never created the chances they needed to score an equaliser."
