Club Brugge goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has sympathy with 'very harsh' Aston Villa penalty call

The hosts were awarded a spot-kick when Mings, making his debut in Europe’s elite club competition, picked the ball up after Emi Martinez passed it to him in the box from a goal kick, with the Villa defender appearing to think play had not yet restarted.

But German official Tobias Stieler ruled otherwise and Hans Vanaken scored the only goal of the game from the spot as Brugge condemned Villa to a first Champions League defeat.

Former Sunderland and Liverpool keeper Mignolet described the goal as a “gift” but also suggested Villa had only themselves to blame, revealing he always rolls the ball out to defenders ahead of taking a short goal kick to avoid the risk of a mix-up.

“I am always aware of that, as a goalkeeper I always try to throw the ball to my defender when it happens,” said Mignolet. 

“It is one of those things, you don’t know how the referee is going to interpret these kind of situations. It’s very harsh but I am very lucky I was on the right end of it.”

Mings’ error echoed an incident in last year’s Champions League when Arsenal defender Gabriel picked up a goal kick during the first leg of a quarter-final tie with Bayern Munich.

The referee on that occasion opted not to award a penalty, telling Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel it would not have been in the spirit of the game to penalise a “kid’s mistake”. 

Mignolet, who pulled a frustrated Martinez away from officials after the final whistle, said: “I have seen it before and I am always wary of it so I try and throw the ball to my defender. 

“You never know, if the ball is outside the six-yard box and the defender touches the ball the goal-kick has been taken. I don’t know how the rule is precisely decided.

“Goalkeepers are already aware of it, there’s a reason we throw the ball. Sometimes when you rush yourself it goes a little bit quick and part of doing it out of habit you kick the ball to him, then it depends how the referee is going to interpret it.”

Vanaken’s goal was the first Villa had conceded in this season’s Champions League but while the manner of it was bizarre, the result was fair with Brugge creating by far the better chances at the Jan Breydel Stadium.

Martinez saved brilliantly from Ferran Jutgla in the first half, while Mings also cleared a Casper Nielsen header off the line. Villa, who began the week top of the league phase table, are now down to eighth after four of eight matches.

Mignolet, who faced just one shot on target in 90 minutes, said: “It was a like a gift the goal, but we deserved it in terms of chances. 

“Aston Villa is a really strong team and we tried to play it tactically, close between the lines, we didn’t give any space to them in attack because they have got some players in attack who can make a difference. 

“The scenario turned out we scored in the right moment and then we could be dangerous on the counter attack. 

“They didn’t create the chances they needed to score an equaliser. It is very good for us because we have six points out of 12.”