Former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor has defended Matty Cash after his controversial tackle on Rodrigo Bentancur over the weekend.
Cash went in with a late tackle on Bentancur as Villa beat Tottenham 2-1 in north London over the weekend. It has now been confirmed the Tottenham man will be out for at least 10 weeks with ankle ligament damage.
It was Bentancur’s first Tottenham start in nine months, as he returned from an ACL injury. He now faces another spell on the sidelines, but Agbonlahor has sent a message to the midfielder.
“Bad tackles happen in football,” he posted on X. “I’m sure Matty Cash has already got in contact with Bentancur! Let’s wish him a speedy recovery!”
Villa supporters have been agreeing with the former forward. One said: “It was only a yellow even in retrospect. Cashy isn’t that sort of player.”
Another added: “If Spurs didn’t have a few injuries and he hadn’t just come back it wouldn’t even be being spoken about. The circumstances at Spurs don’t make the tackle worse but seems to be the case here.”
A third said: “Cash isn’t a dirty player. All this over Bentancur has been fully blown out of proportion.”
Rodrigo Bentancur has been ruled out for at least 10 weeks with ankle ligament damage.
The Uruguayan, 26, made his first start since returning from an anterior cruciate ligament injury in their 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa on Sunday.
But the Spurs playmaker was forced off in the first half after a foul by Villa right-back Matty Cash.
The setback will no doubt come as a huge blow to Bentancur, who missed nearly eight months with his previous issue — and multiple sources say he is now expected to be out until February.
Cash’s strong challenge inside the hosts’ half, which he was given a yellow card for, sparked outrage from a number of Spurs players due to Bentancur’s long previous lay-off.
The injury further depletes Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs squad, with the former Juventus ace joining the likes of James Maddison, Mickey van de Ven, Richarlison and Pape-Mata Sarr on the long injury list.