Leon Osman reacts instantly to Onana controversy in Everton loss v Aston Villa
Everton were “furious” about Amadou Onana not being sent off in their 1-0 loss against Aston Villa on Wednesday, according to Leon Osman.
The Toffees players, including Jordan Pickford, hounded the referee, demanding Onana be shown a second yellow card after he made a cynical foul on Orel Mangala to stop an attack minutes after Ollie Watkins opened the scoring on 15 January.
Reacting to the incident that saw Pickford booked for dissent on live commentary, former Blues midfielder and pundit Osman pointed out that players are often given their marching orders in situations like these, but admitted that the contact was minimal.
“Everton are furious, I don’t think there’s any getting away from that, they felt there was a break on”, Osman said on Premier League Productions‘ world feed (15 January, 8:40 pm).
“Onana, it seems, is the player, already on a yellow card, brings Mangala to the ground, I think there is an arm on the shoulder.
“To be honest, he did go down quite easily.
“You see quite often in those situations, once he’s given a free kick for a cynical situation and an Everton break is on, generally follows a second yellow card.
“It didn’t seem like there was that much contact, he has to be even more careful now though.”
Amadou Onana should have been sent off in Everton v Aston Villa
The contact may have been minimal, but there is no denying that Onana intentionally stopped an Everton attack while already being on a yellow.
Therefore, there was enough reason for the referee to show the Belgium international a red card.
It is also worth noting that was not the only foul the midfielder got away with after initially having his name taken in the eighth minute of the game.
David Moyes’ side can have no complaints about losing to Aston Villa as they failed to create enough chances and were sloppy at the back at times.
However, Onana certainly got away with it on his return to Goodison Park.
One can only wonder if and how the game would have changed had the former Toffees star been sent off with almost 35 minutes left to play.
Nevertheless, Moyes’ hopes of getting his second spell as the Everton manager off to a winning start came crashing down after Watkins’ goal gave the visitors all three points.
In other Everton news, a new Jarrad Branthwaite to Manchester United transfer update has dropped.
For more Everton news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.