Aston Villa boss Unai Emery blasted a VAR intervention to rule out a goal for his side as Sunday's 1-0 home defeat to 10-man Brentford dented their dreams of winning the Premier League title.
Tammy Abraham thought he had levelled with a debut goal on his return to Villa early in the second half, only for a lengthy VAR check to determine the ball had gone out of play much further back in the move.
Villa were unable to break Brentford down thereafter even though the Bees playing more than half the game a man down following Kevin Schade's red card.
The 10 men took the lead just after Schade kicked out at Matty Cash when Dango Ouattara blasted in from a narrow angle.
🗣️ The Boss' thoughts after today's match. pic.twitter.com/tVxZvvCpoq
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) February 1, 2026
"Of course, I accept it. But for me it is not fair," said Emery. "My explanation is it is one action after a long time. If the assistant referee did not see it, we must continue playing.
"I think the problem is the VAR should not be asking in this situation. I accept it but it is not fair.
"I can't say anything more about it. It is football and of course Brentford played fantastic with one player less than us."
Defeat leaves Villa still seven points adrift of leaders Arsenal, but also looking over their shoulder in the battle for a place in next season's Champions League.
Emery's side are seven points ahead of sixth-placed Liverpool with a place in the top five likely to be enough to secure Champions League qualification.