West Bromwich Albion forward Jay Rodriguez rescued a late point for the Baggies in their 2-2 draw with Aston Villa at the Hawthorns on Friday.
Villa took an early lead in the derby thanks to Anwar El Ghazi before Dwight Gayle pulled one back for West Brom in the 28th minute.
El Gahzi then struck again after the break to put the visitors back in the lead and it looked like his goal was going to set Dean Smith’s side up for a win that would have put the club back into play-off contention only for Rodriguez to equalise in stoppage time under very dubious circumstances.
The former Southampton striker bundled the ball into the net with his hand after making initial contact with his head.
Turns out that it isn’t just Scotland where the refs are having a mare.
Jay Rodriguez with the most obvious handball that you will ever see in the West Brom – Aston Villa game! pic.twitter.com/EmaQA8IV22
— SPFL Pish (@stramashing) December 7, 2018
Despite the draw, Villa have extended their unbeaten run under Smith to six games with Chelsea loanee Tammy Abraham leading the way for the club with 11 goals in 15 games.
Abraham’s strong form has left Republic of Ireland striker Scott Hogan on the outer at Villa Park and Smith admits that it’s going to be hard to give the Manchester native increased minutes with Abraham playing so well.
Smith told The Birmingham Mail about Hogan: “It’s been difficult for Scott to get pitch time because of how Tammy has been doing.
“I know it was only 10 minutes but, I tell you what, he was unfortunate not to score at Middlesbrough. That’s the Scott Hogan that I had at Brentford and hopefully that can continue.
“If anything happens to Tammy with injury then I know I’ve got a bright Scott Hogan who’s certainly on the leash at the moment wanting to play.”
