Andoni Iraola has hit out at the refereeing in Bournemouth’s 3-0 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday and believes his side had a goal incorrectly ruled out while Kai Havertz ‘dived’ for the hosts’ opener.
The Gunners made a blistering start to the match at the Emirates, racking up 16 shots on goal in a dominant first 45 minutes, but wasted a host of chances prior to Bukayo Saka’s penalty on the stroke of half-time.
It was a controversial decision, however, with Havertz appearing to leave his foot trailing behind him to initiate contact on goalkeeper Mark Travers – though the VAR did not intervene.
Leandro Trossard doubled Arsenal’s advantage in the 70th minute but there was another hugely debateable incident moments later when Bournemouth had a goal ruled out by on-pitch referee David Coote.
David Raya came steaming off his line to punch the ball clear but it only went as far as Ryan Christie, who smashed an effort off the bar before Antoine Semenyo fired in the rebound via a deflection.
Coote felt Dominic Solanke had interfered with Raya when he came for the ball, though any contact was minimal and the VAR chose not to overrule the referee after several minutes of studying the footage, while a shirt pull on Philip Billing just before Raya’s punch was also ignored.
Although Iraola concedes that Bournemouth were second best in the contest, he felt the decisions from the referee – and VAR’s non-intervention – ultimately proved decisive and was far from happy afterwards.
Asked if Travers was unlucky to concede the penalty, Iraola told TNT Sports afterwards: ‘Yeah, I think he was. I don’t think it’s a penalty. I think Havertz is the one trying to find the contact and he’s diving at the end.
‘We are giving a penalty for someone who is finding the penalty. It’s a smart decision from Kai Havertz, but I can’t understand it that the VAR doesn’t overturn it.
‘I don’t understand it. I cannot understand it. To give the foul they have given, I just cannot understand it because in the same place there is a much more clear foul on Philip Billing one metre in front of him [the referee].
‘And for me these are key decisions. And I repeat, they deserved to win. Clearly they have been much better than us. But I don’t think it has to be this way.
‘I understand the narrative of the game, that they are playing for a title and we are already in a good spot, but the moments we had are key moments.
‘For half-time, going in at 0-0 [instead of 1-0 down], or if we score the 2-1 and then we are playing well. Key moments. We haven’t got key decisions that haven’t allowed us to compete at the end.’
Asked if he got an explanation from the officials on why Semenyo’s strike was disallowed, Iraola continued: ‘No there is no explanation.
‘There is of course a foul [on Billing] and I’m sure the VAR will tell me in two or three days that the members of the [independent decision review] panel that are there will say, “No you are right” and it wasn’t a foul [from Solanke] or it’s a penalty on Billing before or it’s not a penalty to Kai Havertz. But it’s over. It’s 3-0.’
Arteta was also asked about the refereeing decisions – which included a studs-up, late challenge on Saka from Christie which left the Arsenal star bloodied though did not result in a booking – but the Spaniard did not want to comment.
Asked for his thoughts on the controversial moments in the game, he replied: ‘The honest answer is that I haven’t seen any of the incidents because I knew you were going to ask me.
‘So I did it on purpose. The analyst said, “Do you want to watch it?” and I said, “No” because now I can tell the truth, I haven’t seen them.
‘So I cannot comment. I can have an impression. The one on David, the foul, I cannot see because it’s too far.
‘And the one on Bukayo, is it on purpose or not? I don’t know. So difficult for me to judge.’
On the Havertz penalty, he added: ‘Was I happy when I saw the decision? Very happy! And I was happier when Bukayo scored the goal. I don’t know. Kai is not someone who dives but I haven’t seen the image.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
MORE : Leeds United ‘absolutely devastated’ to miss out on Premier League automatic promotion
MORE : Kai Havertz reveals what he told Bournemouth goalkeeper after controversial penalty decision
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
