Aston Villa goalkeeper Marco Bizot arguably cost his team after picking up a catastrophic red card in his side’s 3-1 FA Cup defeat by Newcastle.
The Dutchman came rushing out towards the halfway line to try and stop a counter-attack and hacked down Jacob Murphy with a horrendous challenge.
Bizot, 34, got none of the ball as he dove in and chopped Murphy to the turf with a knee-height challenge just minutes before half-time.
VIlla were leading 1-0 at the time thanks to Tammy Abraham’s early opener but were overturned in the second half by a Sandro Tonali double and Nick Woltemade goal.
He felt he had to rush out for the ball because Murphy was in acres of space with no competition and could have carried the ball and had a clean strike on goal. Officially, Bizot was sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
Newcastle had three attackers on the break while Bizot’s only support was Douglas Luiz, who was some distance from Murphy.
Aston Villa goalkeeper Marco Bizot was sent off for an abhorrent challenge on Jacob Murphy
The Dutchman was duly blasted for his judgement – but pundits acknowledge that he had been left ‘exposed’ by his team-mates
Bizot’s dismissal, in the first minute of added time in the first half, forced Unai Emery to hook Leon Bailey and bring on Emiliano Martinez.
The BBC’s pundits criticised Bizot at half-time. Dion Dublin said: ‘I don’t think he could have been any further away. That’s just a horrendous challenge. Terrible challenge.’
Wayne Rooney added: ‘He’s caught in a bad situation. Villa have left him exposed. He’s high up the pitch, Murphy has a good touch, he’s in no man’s land and it’s violent conduct, a clear red.’
Danny Murphy said: ‘It’s just a crazy tackle.’
At full time, Rooney Reflected: ‘Aston Villa were the better team and created the better chances in the first half. A bit of madness from the goalkeeper sees the game change.’
Dublin added: ‘They just couldn’t handle the change of pace by Newcastle. Yeah, they had 10 men, but even with 10 men I expected more from Villa.’
Later in the programme, Dublin said: ‘He could have gone to prison for this! He’s in a terrible position What is he doing. He’s 25 yards away from the ball. Retreat – you may make it back or not, but don’t put yourself in this situation. He gets it wrong.’
It was a far cry from Bizot’s debut heroics against Newcastle on the opening day of the season, when he consistently denied Newcastle to keep a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw.
He has been used as a deputy to Martinez but has had more involvement than many No 2 goalkeepers, with this his 12th appearance of the season.
