Game #4134
Aston Villa
Wednesday, 7 November 1990
Lost
2nd Round
Last 5: 🟩 🟨 🟩 🟥 🟥
UEFA Cup
Attendance: 75,580
Inter Milan
San Siro
Inter Milan
3-0
Aston Villa
Assist(s) | None
MATCH SUMMARY
An utterly shocking refereeing performance from Aleksey Spirin hands the tie to Inter Milan despite their ability to win through without his help. There was no debate that it had happened just whether it was done intentionally or through incompetence, three decades later we still do not know.
KEY MAN
Alexei Spirin for his blatant cheating to turn the tie in Inter's favour - the truth will come out. Or was it the woeful local media for their abhorrent coverage of Villa's defeat. Either way they both failed in decency and dignity in equal measures to that which Villa succeeded. Shame on them.
PREVIOUS MATCH
NEXT MATCH
MATCH TIMELINE
Wednesday, 7 November 1990
🥅 | 6’ Goal, 0-1, (Inter Milan), Jürgen Klinsmann
🕒 | HT Inter Milan 1-0 Aston Villa
🥅 | 61’ Goal, 0-2, (Inter Milan), Nicola Berti
🥅 | 73’ Goal, 0-3, (Inter Milan), Alessandro Bianchi
🔁 | 80’ Sub off, Derek Mountfield, Sub on, Ian Olney
🕒 | FT Inter Milan 3-0 Aston Villa
ON THIS DAY
One of the most controversial games in Villa’s history, heading into the 2nd leg Villa held a 2-0 lead and victory, while not assured, was certainly a strong possibility.
The game however would not play out that way and a controversial refereeing performance - including allowing an Inter Milan goal despite the cross having clearly been delivered from a position out of play - saw Villa harshly penalised throughout and Inter the beneficiaries of the referee’s largesse.
Such were the scale of the ‘errors’ by the officials on the night that still today there are real suspicions as to whether something altogether more sinister was going on.
Internazionale would go on to win the UEFA Cup.
Undeservedly then, Jozef Vengloš’ Villa were dumped out of the UEFA cup and had now lost twice in as many games.
This demoralising defeat acted almost as a watershed moment for Vengloš’ Villa as their strong start to the season - losing only twice in fourteen games and winning nine - gave way to relegation form and a tumble down the table.
Aston Villa
European Cup / Champions League: 🏆
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1981-82
Inter Milan
European Cup / Champions League: 🏆🏆
Serie A Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆
Coppa Italia Winners: 🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1988-89
FIXTURE HISTORY
Inter Milan
Previous 5 vs. Inter: 🟩
FIXTURE DETAILS
Season | 1990-91 |
Matchday | #18 |
Manager Game | #18 |
Wednesday, 7 November 1990
MATCH SUMMARY
Manager: Jozef Vengloš | 🇨🇿 | Ružomberok, 1990-1991
Referee: Alexey Spirin | 🇷🇺 | Ruzayevka, 1987–1992
HT Score: 🟥 0-1
FT Result: 🟥 Lost
FT Score: 🟥 0-3
Last 5: 🟩 🟨 🟩 🟥 🟥
MANAGERIAL RECORD
Jozef Vengloš | 🇨🇿 |
GAMES | WINS | DRAWS | LOSSES | POINTS PER GAME
🕒 18 | 🟩 | 9 🟨 | 4 🟥 5 | 1.72
Villa Career Form:
Top 6
Jozef Vengloš | 🇨🇿 |
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Alexey Spirin | 🇷🇺 | Ruzayevka, 1987–1992 🆘
Previous 5: None
Last Match: None
Cards: None
Alexey Spirin
CARDS
Villa
None
Inter Milan
None
TEAM NEWS
Stuart Gray replaces Bernie Gallacher.
TEAM STATS
Starting XI Average Age
| 28.83 |
Oldest Player |
GK Nigel Spink | 🏴 | 32.27 |
Youngest Player |
W Tony Daley | 🏴 | 23.07 |
MANAGER
Jozef Vengloš | 🇨🇿 |
Aston Villa
GK Nigel Spink | 🏴 |
RB Chris Price | 🏴 |
CB Paul McGrath | 🏴 |
CB Derek Mountfield | 🏴 | 🔁 |
CB Kent Nielsen | 🇩🇰 |
M Stuart Gray | 🏴 |
M Paul Birch | 🏴 |
M Gordon Cowans | 🏴 |
M David Platt | 🏴 |
W Tony Daley | 🏴 |
CF Tony Cascarino | 🇮🇪 |
MANAGER
Giovanni Trapattoni | 🇮🇹 |
Inter Milan
GK Walter Zenga | 🇮🇹 |
LB Andreas Brehme | 🇩🇪 |
CB Riccardo Ferri | 🇮🇹 |
RB Giuseppe Bergomi | 🇮🇹 |
M Sergio Battistini | 🇮🇹 | 🔁 |
M Fausto Pizzi | 🇮🇹 |
M Lothar Matthäus | 🇩🇪 |
M Nicola Berti | 🇮🇹 | ⚽ | 🔁 |
W Alessandro Bianchi | 🇮🇹 | ⚽ |
CF Aldo Serena | 🇮🇹 |
CF Jürgen Klinsmann | 🇩🇪 | ⚽ |
Not necessarily indicative of the actual matchday formation
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 CF Ian Olney | 🏴 | for CB Derek Mountfield | 🏴 | 80’ |
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 | M Sergio Battistini | 🇮🇹 | (RB Antonio Paganin | 🇮🇹 |)
🔁 | M Nicola Berti | 🇮🇹 | (M Andrea Mandorlini | 🇮🇹 |)
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
GK Lee Butler | 🏴 |
CB Andy Comyn | 🏴 |
M Mark Blake | 🏴 |
CF Ian Ormondroyd | 🏴 |
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
GK Astutillo Malgioglio | 🇮🇹 |
M Giuseppe Baresi | 🇮🇹 |
M Giuseppe Marino | 🇮🇹 |
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 9/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 14/16
MATCHDAY SQUAD
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🇮🇹 : 8/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🇮🇹 : 13/16
MATCHDAY SQUAD
UNAVAILABLE
Not recorded
UNAVAILABLE
Not Recorded
Player Positions:
GK : Goalkeeper
CB, D, B : Centre Back, Defender, Back
FB, LB, RB, WH : Full Back, Left Back, Right Back, Wing Back, Wing Half
M, CH, LH, RH : Midfielder, Centre Half, Left Half, Right Half
W, OL, OR : Winger, Outside Left, Outside Right
F, IF, IL, IR : Forward, Inside Forward, Inside Left, Inside Right, Second Striker, False 9
CF : Centre Forward
Match Symbols:
⚽ | Goal
🔥 | Assist
🔁 | Substitution
🟨 | Booking
🟥 | Sending off
🆘 | Poor refereeing performance
🟢 : Debut 🔴 : Final Game
DEBUT APPEARANCES
FINAL APPEARANCES
MATCH STATS
Not recorded
LEAGUE TABLE
MATCHDAY PROGRAMME
MATCHDAY QUOTES
"That was an expensive experience, but one our players have to undergo.
”When the draw was made we knew were playing against one of the best teams in the world. They are all great players.
"In my opinion the third goal was completely offside.
“But that is up to the referee and don’t want say anything more about it.”
Jozef Vengloš
"That is one of the best matches of my career.
“To turn round a 2-0 deficit is very difficult and I’m very proud.
“But Aston Villa proved they are very good side."
Giovanni Trapattoni.
"I don't know if the ball was over the line.
“I wasn't sure if it was half out or completely out.
“It's got be entirely out.”
Fausto Pizzi.
"It was out. There's no doubt about it in my mind. I couldn't believe it when the referee waved play on."
Paul McGrath.
“We played very well at Villa Park, we lifted ourselves but the tables were turned here.
“Their second goal was a disputed free kick.
“Their third goal … I don’t know if someone was offside to the ball was out of play."
David Platt.
Meanwhile the Birmingham Evening Mail disgrace themselves with this diatribe of nonsense that takes some believing that it was allowed to pass any sort of editorial standard:
“Don't whinge about defeat
“THE camera did not lie but surely Aston Villa will not fool themselves into believing they were cheated out of the UEFA Cup competition.
“No matter how incensed supporters may be about one blatantly incorrect decision and another even more critical in the context of the game that was dubious, the only serious complaint should be about Villa's second half performance.
“Bleats about Alexei Spirin's refereeing are pointless.
“They alter nothing but the accuser's choleric.
“We don't want to be whingeing Brummies, do we?
*The Irish Independent*
Thursday, 8 November 1990
Villa have night of misery
ASTON VILLA suffered heartrending misery in Milan as the Italian superstars of Inter over turned a two-goal first leg deficit to reach the UEFA Cup third round.
The bleak reality of five years’ European exile was driven home in front of new England manager Graham Taylor as his old club were slowly, but relentlessly whittled down by a team containing eight expensive World Cup internationals.
Villa will complain that Alessandro Bianchi's decisive third goal should have been disallowed; that the pitch was a disgrace to the magnificent setting of the San Siro; and that Russian referee Alexei Spirin leaned over backwards to satisfy the baying 80,000 Italian crowd.
After seven minutes West German striker Jurgen KLINSMANN scored for Inter. Only Derek Mountfield was able to pursue him as he raced on to a huge long ball from the back from Sergio Battistini and even then he could not get close enough to do more than try to tug him down. This was not enough to prevent Klinsmann sliding the ball wide of Nigel Spink.
Cascarino came desperately close to scoring the away goal that would have transformed the tie eight minutes later, but even though Walter Zenga was stranded by Chris Price's cross from the right, Cascarino's looping header dropped inches wide.
Cascarino put another header just wide before the break.
But in the 62nd minute the Italians pulled level on aggregate from Matthaus's right wing free kick, conceded by Villa captain Stuart Gray.
The cross was deflected wickedly, Villa's mass defence lunged but missed and Nicola Beni was unmarked at the far post to wallop in the second.
If the second goal was unlucky, the decisive third goal was full of controversy.
Klinsmann was clearly offside when Brehme punted the ball down the left to relieve Villa pressure, but the referee waved play on.
Then when McGrath blocked Pizzi, the Italian recovered but crossed the ball from behind the byeline.
Villa's arms were still raised in protest as BIANCHI volleyed the ball home.
Dubious decisions seal Inter victory
It was the manner of their defeat which really stuck in the throat.
The third and killing knock-out 75th minute goal was the one that finally clinched it for Inter.
Fausto Pizzi’s cross from the left was at least a foot out over the left byline before Alessandro Bianchi drove a powerful shot through Nigel Spink's legs at the far post.
The TV cameras also revealed that Jurgen Klinsmann and Aldo Serena were offside as full-back Andreas Brehme knocked the ball forward.
Paul McGrath signalled that the ball had crossed the by-line but referee Spirin ignored Villa’s complaints leaving them powerless to counteract the brilliant comeback from their highly-regarded opponents.
Inter’s second goal after 62 minutes was another bone of contention in the Villa camp with substitute Antonio Paganin falling over skipper Stuart Gray's legs after the full-back had fairly nicked the ball away from him.
West Germany's World Cup winning captain Lothar Matthaus swung the free-kick from the right corner over Villa’s defence with Kent Nielsen just failing to hook it away and Nicola Berti rammed a low left-foot shot across Spink into the far corner of the net.
Villa manager Jozef Venglos diplomatically avoided the clear controversy and instead said:
"That was an expensive experience, but one our players have to undergo.
"When the draw was made we knew were playing against one of the best teams in the world.
“They are all great players."
Inter's decisive third goal clearly angered all the Villa party, but boss Venglos would say only:
"In my opinion the third goal was completely offside. But that’d up to the referee and I don’t want say anything more about it.”
Inter manager Giovanni Trapattoni said: "That is one of the best matches of my career. To turn round a 2-0 deficit is very difficult and I’m very proud.
“But Aston Villa proved again they are very good side.
"Midfielder Fausto Pizzi. at the heart of controversy about Inter's third goal said:
"I don't know if the ball was over the line. I wasn't sure if it was half out or completely out. It's got be entirely out.”
Paul McGrath however was adamant that the ball had crossed the line and was out of play before Pizzi got to it.
McGrath admitted was appealing even before the ball was struck, and said afterwards:
"It was out. There's no doubt about it in my mind. I couldn't believe it when the referee waved play on."
Meanwhile the Birmingham Evening Mail disgrace themselves with this diatribe of nonsense that takes some believing that it was allowed to pass any sort of editorial standard:
“Don't whinge about defeat
“THE camera did not lie but surely Aston Villa will not fool themselves into believing they were cheated out of the UEFA Cup competition.
“No matter how incensed supporters may be about one blatantly incorrect decision and another even more critical in the context of the game that was dubious, the only serious complaint should be about Villa's second half performance.
“Bleats about Alexei Spirin's refereeing are pointless.
“They alter nothing but the accuser's choleric.
“We don't want to be whingeing Brummies, do we?”
Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. With thanks to Trinity Mirror. Digitised by Findmypast Newspaper Archive Limited. All rights reserved. Source: British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)