By Ewan Kingsbury

10th Oct, 2023 | 3:31pm

The real reason Aston Villa were denied penalty revealed as Wolves star Matt Doherty and Eric Dier disagree on X

Ex-Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has suggested Aston Villa were correctly denied a penalty during their 1-1 draw with Wolves on Sunday (8 October).

Speaking on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch (posted to X by Football Daily, 9 October), Gallagher claimed referee Rob Jones was right to wave away Ollie Watkins’ protests after contact from Wolves’ Matt Doherty inside the box.

He suggested there was not enough contact to prevent Watkins from unleashing a strike on goal – as his effort hit the side netting.

VAR analysed the incident and found no clear and obvious error, a decision which Gallagher also agreed with.

Fellow panel member and ex-Premier League defender Stephen Warnock disagreed, claiming Doherty had committed a “clear” foul.

He said: “How the referee doesn’t pick up on that is beyond me.”

The incident was just one of several in a lively Midlands derby, which ended 1-1 after goals from Hwang-hee Chan and Pau Torres.

Mario Lemina of Wolves was also dismissed in injury time after being shown a second yellow card.

Doherty has since spoken out on the penalty shout, taking to X (9 October) to echo Gallagher’s claims and insist it was “never” a spot-kick.

His ex-teammate, Eric Dier, has also weighed in to claim the wrong decision was made in a cheeky jibe – also branding the right-back “lazy”.

The result leaves Aston Villa fifth in the Premier League ahead of their next fixture against West Ham on 22 October.

Meanwhile, Gary O’Neil’s Wolves sit 14th in the table and are next in action against Bournemouth on 21 October.

In other news, Aston Villa set to land £35m jackpot after green light.