Aston Villa boss Dean Smith has slammed the officials after Manchester City extended their advantage over Liverpool in the league table.
City scored two second half goals to win 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium, but both had their fair share of controversy.
Bernardo Silva’s opener caused a stir with an apparent offside in the build-up, with Smith’s reaction to the goal not being overturned leading to him being issued a red card.
The win for City leaves them in second place in the table and four points ahead of Liverpool, who host Burnley at Anfield this evening.
Speaking after the game, Smith labelled some of the decision making by officials as “farcical and pathetic”, focusing mainly on City’s opening goal.
Smith said: "It's farcical. Are we just going to leave players behind the line then?
“He was 10 yards offside and come back and tackled our player, it's a pathetic law and a pathetic decision.
"I said to the fourth official David Coote 'did you get juggling balls for Christmas?' I don't think any other manager would get sent off for that.”
City then won a penalty in the 90th minute, converted by Ilkay Gundogan to seal the win, after Matty Cash handled the ball in his own area.
"Matty Cash is a yard away for the handball, he can't jump without his arms up,” Smith added.
“He didn't even look at it, it flabbergasts me. It was a poor performance from the officials and that's cost us."
