Match of the Day pundits weigh in on refereeing controversy during Burnley's cruel defeat to Aston Villa

That’s the view of leading pundit and former Villa man Dion Dublin, who had sympathy for the Clarets for coming out on the wrong end of multiple calls during their 3-2 defeat at Villa Park.

Sander Berge was dismissed for two yellow cards, while Diego Carlos went unpunished for a clear handball as he attempted to keep Lyle Foster at bay as he looked to run through on goal.

Further salt was rubbed into the wound when Villa were awarded a contentious penalty in the 88th minute when Aaron Ramsey was adjudged to have brought down Jhon Duran in the box, despite there appearing to be minimal contact.

Ex-Villa boss Dean Smith, who was commentating on the game for BBC Radio 5Live, thought it wasn’t a penalty.

When asked by Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker if Vincent Kompany had a point with his post-match complaints, Dublin said: “You know, I think he has.

“I think he’s talking about, in particular, the handball, the potential handball. I know it’s the defender, his arm goes up, Foster’s arm goes up, and I’m not saying it’s a penalty, I’m not saying it’s a red card, I’m just saying it’s a free-kick on the edge of the box.

“He’s [Kompany] saying it’s a light penalty. There’s a little kick on the bottom of the foot, Ramsey gives a little bit of a kick.”

Martin Keown then interjected, saying: “It’s a soft penalty, isn’t it?”

Dublin responded: “He catches him, but it’s not that bad. Is it enough to make him fall over? He puts his foot down after he’s been kicked.”

Lineker added: “Do you think the fact we have VAR looking at these things, I know the referee gave it in this instance, but do you think it encourages this type of diving? Because it was [a dive], wasn’t it? You feel a little touch and you go down.”

Dublin concluded: “All we hear now is ‘if you don’t go down, if you don’t make the referee make a decision, then what do you do?’”