The referee admitted to a mistake in the Feyenoord – Aston Villa match: what happened.

Van Persie on the referee's decision

According to The Sun: Robin van Persie said that the referee apologized to him for the mistake that occurred during the halftime of the match between Feyenoord and Aston Villa.

Van Persie's team, representing the Netherlands, clearly dominated the first half, but Aston Villa scored two goals in the second half, equalizing the score in the Europa League table.

Feyenoord was intensely attacking the goal of Aston Villa's reserve goalkeeper Marco Bizot, trying to score the first goal just half an hour into the game.

In one episode, Bizot barely managed to clear the danger after Ayase Ueda's shot, but referee Rade Obrenović canceled the goal due to an alleged foul on Matty Cash.

Van Persie, who is also a Manchester United legend, commented on the situation:

“It was an obvious goal for us. The referee apologized to me at halftime. I asked him, 'can you explain what just happened, because nothing happened?'. He then apologized again.”

The referee was also criticized in the TNT studio for another controversial situation when he did not show a yellow card for a foul on Ollie Watkins.

The second half and the development of events

However, Aston Villa did not waste their chance - Emiliano Buendía opened the scoring in the 61st minute, brilliantly hitting the net from outside the penalty area.

John McGinn extended the lead by scoring another goal 17 minutes later after a successful run by Donyell Malen.

This match was full of emotions, especially in light of the events in the city of Rotterdam, where Aston Villa supporters faced attacks from local fans.

The victory is significant for Aston Villa as the team maintained its excellent record in Europe this season, although domestically it is not going well - only one win in six matches.

Unai Emery's team has a chance to improve its form in the match against debutants Burnley, which will take place on Sunday.