Aston Villa goalkeeper Robin Olsen 'refuses to move out of net' to let Crystal Palace kids take penalties at half-time

Aston Villa took on Crystal Palace on Tuesday 25 February which in the end saw Palace win a home victory. Palace beat Villa 4-1, dealing a major blow to Villa’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League again.

Villa’s goalkeeper Robin Olsen has been slammed after a video of him “refusing to move out of the net” to let Crystal Palace kids take penalties at half-time was shared on X, formerly Twitter. The video has garnered over 3.5 million views. The user that posted the video wrote: “Villa keeper Robin Olsen refused to move out of net and let the Palace kids take penalties for the half time games”.

Users rushed to criticise Olsen with one writing: “What a weird guy”. Another said: “Poor sportsmanship“. A third wrote: “What a horrible person the team he plays for suits him.“

One user said: “Robin Olsen's behaviour is against the spirit of the game. Half-time is a game meant for the entertainment of children, and a professional player should cooperate with it, not hinder it.“

However, not everyone criticised the goalkeeper for his behaviour. Some users rushed to his defence. One wrote: “He was subbed on at halftime and needed to warmup, this is 100% fair“.

Another user said: “He had to warm up. Why are people like this. Literally what he’s being paid to do”.