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Aston Villa star Matty Cash scores and is booked for unveiling T-shirt supporting Polish team-mate amid Russian invasion

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ASTON VILLA scorer Matty Cash was controversially booked for unveiling a T-shirt backing a Poland team-mate stuck in Ukraine.

After firing the opener in the 2-0 win at Brighton, Cash revealed a ‘Tomasz Kedziora + family, stay strong bro’ message for the Dynamo Kyiv defender.

Matty Cash shows his backing for his Poland team-mate Tomasz Kedziora
Slough-born Matty Cash, who has two Poland caps, displayed where his heart isCredit: Reuters

But referee John Brooks followed strict FA rules by handing Cash a yellow card for taking his top off.

Villa chief Steven Gerrard ‘took responsibility’ for the yellow card after revealing he had urged his players to keep calm.

Kedziora, 27, who has been with Ukraine capital side Dynamo since 2017, is trapped in the country as Russia’s invasion intensifies.

And Russian president Vladimir Putin has stepped up his aggression against Ukraine as troops close on Kyiv despite fierce resistance.

But Gerrard said: ā€œIā€™ll take responsibility for Cashieā€™s yellow card.

“I should have spoken to the players before the game and said to them, ā€˜If you score any goals, remain calmā€™.

ā€œWeā€™ve all got to respect the situation and I think thatā€™s what Matty tried to do.

ā€œBut Iā€™ll certainly take responsibility for that. Thereā€™s no blame towards Matty. Everyone has different feelings. Thatā€™s on me that one.ā€

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But Sky Sports Soccer Saturday presenter Jeff Stelling criticised ‘inexperienced’ ref Brooks – while also urging football chiefs to throw the yellow card out.

Social media mainly backed Cash too, although some fans insisted Brooks had no option but to book him to avoid inconsistency.

Stelling exclaimed: “He’s been booked for it! John Brooks is an inexperienced Premier League referee.

“Hopefully when people come to their senses, the Premier League will just ignore that. They should just ignore that.” 

One armchair observer on Twitter hit out: “Is the ref joking? That is actually ridiculous.”

Villa star Matty Cash had no hesitations in showing his support for KedzioraCredit: Reuters

But another posted: “It is the law to be booked for that, but the inexperienced ref could have shown some compassion and common sense and let him off.”

Similar messages followed. such as: “Obviously the ref doesnā€™t want to give the yellow but itā€™s literally the rule he has to.”

But one said: “Taking of your shirt is a yellow whatever the message under it may be.

“There is enough interpretation in this game already without having to consider what the message is before booking someone for taking his shirt off.”

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk

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