After the restart, West Brom's attack was incredibly sharp.
The main threat was their winger, Hal Robson-Kanu.
Earlier in the match, Robson-Kanu had already caused significant problems for Aston Villa's defense.
So, when Robson-Kanu received the ball on the right side of the penalty area, the entire Aston Villa defense instinctively tensed up.
The defender under the most pressure was Kortney Hause. Desperate to stop Robson-Kanu's advance, Hause resorted to a reckless foul.
He went in with a two-footed tackle, taking Robson-Kanu down without hesitation.
The referee blew his whistle and immediately showed Hause a straight red card!
Aston Villa manager Dean Smith was utterly stunned.
He rushed to the touchline, his face red with fury, and screamed at the referee.
"That was never a fucking red card offense, you've got it completely wrong! It's an outrageous decision! Are you fucking blind?!"
Smith was furious.
He knew exactly what this decision meant. With only about thirty minutes played in the first half, going down to ten men would have a massive fatal impact on the rest of the match.
Aston Villa might actually lose tonight's game.
On the pitch, Hause was in complete disbelief.
He immediately approached the referee, trying frantically to explain himself repeatedly.
Unfortunately, the referee stood firmly by his decision.
"Enough, get off the pitch now!" the referee barked. "It was a clear foul, there's nothing more to explain!"
Gesturing firmly toward the tunnel, the referee forced Hause to leave the field.
Though Hause felt deeply wronged, he could only walk off silently, his face filled with sheer despair.
Although Theodore wasn't Aston Villa's captain, he was the first player to approach Hause.
He patted the defender's shoulder and said with absolute conviction, "Don't worry, mate. We're going to win this match."
Meanwhile, on the Sky Sports broadcast, the feed replayed the slow-motion footage of Hause's foul.
Commentator Gary Weaver was quick to weigh in.
"Honestly, the referee's decision is incredibly harsh," Weaver observed. "Although Hause did go in with a two-footed challenge, the slow-motion replay clearly shows that he made contact with the ball first before catching Robson-Kanu!"
"Moreover, with only around thirty minutes played, being reduced to ten men at this stage is clearly terrible news for Aston Villa, especially at home!"
Co-commentator Don Goodman shared his thoughts. "This decision was indeed a bit rash, Gary. A yellow card would have certainly sufficed."
On social media, football fans couldn't help but express their outrage and concern for Aston Villa.
"It's over! A red card so early—Aston Villa might actually lose tonight's match!"
"Terrible refereeing! Absolutely shocking decision, worse than a Sunday league ref!"
"Isn't this Aston Villa's home ground? How could they get such an absurd decision here?!"
"Oh no! With West Brom's attacking momentum, it won't be long before they equalize!"
"Isn't the English league supposed to be very physical? Why would they show a straight red card for that?!"
"If Hause had tackled Robson-Kanu first, a red card would be acceptable, but this time he clearly touched the ball first!!"
A few minutes later, after the brief chaos settled, both teams returned to the match.
Coach Dean Smith immediately made tactical adjustments on the field. He didn't make a substitution. Instead, he dropped Theodore Bjorn back into Hause's previous role in the defense.
The formation shifted from a 4-1-4-1 to a 4-4-1.
Coach Smith made this adjustment largely because he had massive confidence in Theodore Bjorn's individual defensive ability.
After the restart, the visiting West Brom side launched aggressive attacks.
Soon after, midfielder Jake Livermore's pass once again found Robson-Kanu. Clearly, West Brom's offense still revolved entirely around the Welsh winger.
"The ball comes to Robson-Kanu again! This time, the defender marking him is Theodore Bjorn!" Weaver noted on the broadcast.
"After Hause's sending off, Theodore Bjorn, who originally played in midfield, has moved to the full-back position. This is his first time playing as a full-back this season. Let's hope he can deliver an impressive performance."
Robson-Kanu wasn't in a hurry to dribble past the teenager. He kept the ball close, carefully observing Theodore's positioning.
After about three seconds, Robson-Kanu suddenly chose to pass.
It was a sharp through ball!
The ball flashed past Theodore Bjorn's face at lightning speed. Theodore made a mistake. He hadn't expected Robson-Kanu to pass.
At that moment, his attention had been entirely focused on defending a potential dribble.
Just like that, the ball successfully reached West Brom forward Jay Rodriguez's feet.
To be fair, Rodriguez hadn't performed particularly well in tonight's match. This was his first real shooting opportunity!
Standing right in front of the goal, after receiving the pass, Rodriguez immediately took his shot.
Bam!!
At the crucial moment, Aston Villa's goalkeeper made a brilliant save! Lovre Kalinić threw himself across the goalmouth, using both hands to block Jay Rodriguez's certain goal.
"World-class save!! An absolutely world-class save!" Weaver shouted. "Lovre Kalinić successfully stops Jay Rodriguez's shot!"
"The score remains 2-1! Aston Villa maintains their lead!"
In the blink of an eye, Aston Villa suddenly launched a counterattack toward the opponent's goal.
Center-back Tyrone Mings smashed a clearance that crossed the halfway line and landed perfectly at Jack Grealish's feet.
Aston Villa's star player quickly demonstrated his elite dribbling ability.
Operating on his familiar left flank, Grealish performed multiple step-over moves, attempting to break through despite heavy interference from two West Brom defenders.
However, this wasn't an easy task.
Currently, the players marking Grealish were Kieran Gibbs and defensive midfielder Gareth Barry. Both men possessed extensive match experience.
Full-back Gibbs is a product of Arsenal's youth academy. Having served Arsenal for over a dozen seasons, he was one of Arsene Wenger's favored players during his prime.
In his younger days, Gibbs also earned call-ups to the England national team. However, his current physical abilities are naturally incomparable to those during his peak years.
The other defensive midfielder, Gareth Barry, boasts an even more impressive pedigree. Barry is considered a predecessor to Grealish.
He was also a product of the Aston Villa youth academy. As early as 1997, he had the opportunity to make an appearance for Aston Villa's first team.
He spent 12 seasons at Aston Villa, making a total of 440 appearances, scoring 52 goals, and providing 45 assists.
He was the absolute banner of Aston Villa back in the day.
Barry left Aston Villa in the summer of 2009, moving to Manchester City, and later went to Everton.
In the summer of 2017, the 36-year-old Barry joined West Bromwich Albion, where he has remained a key midfielder.
Although Barry has become a veteran player, he can still help the team immensely with his excellent passing technique and vision.
Faced with the relentless interference from Gibbs and the highly experienced Barry, Grealish was under immense pressure.
After much hesitation, Grealish ultimately chose to cross the ball directly. The ball flew into West Brom's penalty area and was undoubtedly headed clear by the defenders first.
"Grealish's crossing ability still falls a bit short compared to Theodore Bjorn's," commentator Gary Weaver couldn't help but criticize on Sky Sports.
"Indeed, Gary. Grealish's greatest strength is his dribbling. As for his passing technique, it is far inferior to what Theodore Bjorn provides," Don Goodman fully agreed.
The headed clearance from center-back Craig Dawson landed in the midfield.
In an instant, Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn and West Brom midfielder Jake Livermore both appeared in front of the ball at the exact same time. These two tough midfielders both went in for a heavy sliding tackle!
McGinn was a step faster. He got to the ball first.
However, West Brom's defensive midfielder Livermore was a split second slower. He didn't make contact with the ball, but instead went straight into McGinn's right foot with his studs!
But the referee did not make a call! He waved play on!
This blatantly missed foul directly enraged the Aston Villa fans.
For a moment, deafening boos erupted from the stands throughout Villa Park!
As the team's head coach, Dean Smith also found this decision utterly unacceptable.
He rushed to the touchline again, and with his already hoarse voice, furiously berated the referee.
"That's not a fucking foul?! Hey! Are you blind?! I'm talking to you!" Smith roared.
"Why aren't you booking their number 8?! He didn't get the ball! Show him the fucking red card!!"
"Fuck! You are definitely the worst referee I've ever seen!"
Dean Smith was completely going off on the touchline.
Finally, the referee stopped the game and jogged over to the technical area.
However, the referee did not show a card to West Brom's midfielder.
Instead, he directly sent off Aston Villa's head coach Dean Smith with a straight red card!
"What?! The referee has actually shown Dean Smith a red card!!" Weaver exclaimed on the broadcast.
"This... this referee's decision is outrageous!" Goodman added. "Although Coach Smith expressed his dissatisfaction on the touchline, giving a straight red card is far too harsh! And West Brom's midfielder clearly committed a foul just now! Dean Smith's protest wasn't wrong!"
In the Sky Sports studio, the commentators were left utterly speechless.
Meanwhile, on the social media feeds, comments from Aston Villa fans instantly flooded the screens.
"Ridiculous!! The referee didn't even book the West Brom player, but instead sent off Aston Villa's manager! Is he on a mission to ruin us or something?!"
"Fixed match!!"
"This is way too blatant!! Even Mike Dean would've done a better job!"
"These two red card decisions are absolutely fucking absurd! How did this guy even get his referee license?"
"Investigate his bank accounts! He must have bought that license!"
"Oh no, now the manager's been sent off too! Looks like Aston Villa just can't escape their fate this time!"
"Only ten minutes left in the first half! We have to maintain this 2-1 lead until halftime!"
At Villa Park, Aston Villa manager Dean Smith refused to leave the pitch, continuously directing heavy profanities toward the referee's family members.
The match had to be temporarily suspended.
Simultaneously, large numbers of Aston Villa fans began hurling insults and curses at the referee.
The stadium descended into absolute chaos instantly.
In this critical moment, it was Gareth Barry who stepped up.
As a former iconic star of Aston Villa, Barry personally approached Dean Smith, doing his absolute best to calm the furious manager down.
Only after Barry's persuasion, and with the assistance of assistant coach John Terry, did Dean Smith reluctantly leave the technical area.
He moved up into the stands to watch the remainder of the match.
For the subsequent period, sideline command duties were handed over to Terry to execute.
When play resumed, the visiting West Brom side continued to apply heavy pressure around Aston Villa's penalty area.
Before long, after some back-and-forth play, the ball once again found its way to Hal Robson-Kanu.
"Robson-Kanu again!" Weaver announced. "It appears West Brom's strategy tonight heavily relies on Robson-Kanu as their key attacking outlet!"
"This means Theodore Bjorn is going to face immense defensive pressure on that flank," Goodman added.
On the pitch, out on the right flank, the moment Robson-Kanu received the ball, Theodore Bjorn immediately appeared in front of him.
This time, Theodore didn't waste any time waiting for Robson-Kanu to make a move.
He initiated physical contact directly, giving the winger absolutely no time to react.
In an instant, Theodore and Robson-Kanu collided heavily!
The Welsh winger simply couldn't withstand the teenager's physical challenge. He immediately lost his balance.
With lightning-quick reflexes, Theodore used his right foot to cleanly poke the ball away.
In the Villa Park stands, Aston Villa fans erupted in enthusiastic applause upon seeing the 17-year-old complete the tackle.
"Well done, Bjorn!"
"That's how you defend! Don't give him any chance to break through!"
"Truth be told, Bjorn's defending is far superior to Hause's!"
"Solo defense against Robson-Kanu! Bjorn's performance is outstanding!"
"Bjorn is truly versatile! Who would've thought he'd excel this much as a full-back!"
"Who cares if we're a man down? We have Bjorn! He will lead Aston Villa to victory!!"
The Aston Villa fans couldn't help but praise his performance.
And Theodore didn't disappoint the home supporters.
After completing the interception, he immediately passed the ball to John McGinn in the midfield.
This also meant that Aston Villa's counterattack was about to begin!
Although Aston Villa was playing with one man down, the team did not stop their offensive momentum.
In the midfield, after receiving the crisp pass from Theodore Bjorn, McGinn immediately delivered the ball out to Jack Grealish on the left flank before the West Brom players could close him down.
Upon receiving the ball, Grealish chose to dribble forward as he usually did.
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Anything need to be changed or improve ? slight spoiler, he wont be playing in any other prem team aside from aston villa before he move.