Hinchcliffe: Doucoure knew what he was doing to agitate Grealish in Aston Villa v Everton
Andy Hinchcliffe claims Abdoulaye Doucoure knew what he was doing when he left Jack Grealish furious as Everton and Aston Villa played out a goalless draw at Villa Park on Thursday night.
You would have thought that Grealish had scored a hat-trick and won the Premier League single-handedly for Aston Villa given how much the England midfielder was talked about on Sky Sports during the game.
After he came off the bench in the second half to end a long spell on the sidelines with an injury, Grealish was clearly upset with the fact he didn’t win a foul when he was challenged by Doucoure.
After rewatching the incident that left Grealish yelling at referee Martin Atkinson, Hinchcliffe suggested Doucoure had actually fouled the Aston Villa player.
“[Grealish] laid the ball off and he’s looking to get the return,” said Hinchcliffe on Sky Sports Premier League during the second half.
“He feels that Doucoure has stepped across and hands him off. He does block him off, it’s pretty obvious he does that.
“You can see why he’s appealed to Martin Atkinson.
“I think Doucoure knows exactly what he’s doing, just stopping Grealish from getting to the ball.”
Woeful
There are plenty of ways to describe Everton’s performance at Villa Park this week – and none of them are good ones.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side was devoid of any real quality in Birmingham while the same can be said about Atkinson’s performance as a referee.
Some of his decision-making was bizarre and there’s no doubt that Tyrone Mings should have been sent off late on for a studs-up, high challenge on Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Grealish’s issue with Atkinson paled in comparison.
If the were a sudden gust of wind the Villa playmaker would have thrown himself to the ground and complained to the referee.
Doucoure was well within his rights to make that challenge and Grealish simply couldn’t handle being beaten and outmuscled by another player.
In other Everton news, this BBC pundit has been blown away by one of the Blues’ up-and-coming young players.
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