Bournemouth drew 0-0 with Brentford at the Vitality Stadium, controversially having a penalty denied early in the second half.
Less than 90 seconds after the restart, Alex Jimenez broke through the heart of the Bees’ defense and fed the ball to Marcus Tavernier, who darted past Michael Cayode into the box and slotted it into the left post.
At first glance, it appeared that the forward had lost his balance, but replays revealed that Kayode caught an opponent approaching the ball with his Achilles heel.
Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola told TNT Sports: “I think it’s a clear penalty. It’s impossible not to see it live, but even VAR… it’s unacceptable.”
“It’s unfortunate because I’m going to talk about penalties when we were playing really, really well, but that’s the reality. It’s unacceptable.
Marcus Tavernier was controversially denied a penalty early in the second half.
“If they look at the replay and decide it wasn’t good enough, I’ll be even more upset.
“Kayode’s intentions are clear. He lost his position and stretched his legs. What they probably don’t call a problem is that somehow Tavernier finished the play, but it’s still a penalty. It’s very obvious. I can’t find the reason. It’s very frustrating.”
VAR officer Darren England reviewed the incident, but no penalty was subsequently awarded.
Tavernier: I thought it was a penalty, I felt the contact.
Marcus Tavernier told TNT Sports:
“Yeah (I thought it was a penalty), I thought that right away.
“As I ran through, I felt contact on my arm, and then as I ran through, I felt contact on my Achilles tendon.
“I spoke to the referee afterwards and he said it had been checked immediately and there was nothing more that could be done.
“I felt the contact and you know the laws of the game these days, especially when you have VAR, but today it wasn’t meant to be and it didn’t go the way I wanted it to.
“As you can see, when the ball comes to me, I’m off balance and in the air. If he didn’t touch me, I’d probably have a routine finish. We’re working on that every day in training.”
“It’s too bad they didn’t pick it up, but we’ll have to go again.”
Vote: Should Bournemouth have been given a penalty?
Analysis: Another day, another game clouded by VAR controversy.
Patrick Lowe of Sky Sports:
“It could hit the post and the goal could be ruled out for offside, but VAR should never miss a clear penalty for Bournemouth.”
“Michael Kayode clearly caught Marcus Tavernier’s Achilles tendon seconds before the forward made contact with the ball, resulting in the ball hitting the post.
“It’s amazing to look at that incident with multiple eyes and still come to the conclusion that Kayode’s challenge did not affect the play.
“While there is no guarantee that a penalty will be taken, Bournemouth were unfairly denied the opportunity to score one themselves.
“The race for the top of the Premier League is so tight that coming away with one point instead of three could be the difference between European football and a mediocre mid-table team at the end of the season.
“Another game and week clouded by the VAR controversy. This is not football.”
Bournemouth fail to capitalize on chances despite sharing points
It took a while for the game to pick up steam on the south coast, perhaps due to the fact that both teams were in the conversation in Europe and the stakes were higher as a result.
When that happened, Bournemouth looked much more likely to score first. Tavernier cut deftly inside Mikkel Damsgaard and flashed a shot past the right-hand post before Ryan Christie lofted a cross over the head of James Hill, who inexplicably nodded over the bar.
Marcus Tavernier reacts after seeing his shot hit Brentford’s crossbar
Christie himself had the best chance of the first half. He exchanged passes with Evanilsson and dragged the ball past Bees goalkeeper Caoich Kelleher, but he ran out of space to shoot.
After the aforementioned incident, Bournemouth continued to push. After Tavernier hit the post again, Evanilson showed great skill to clear two Brentford defenders and finish clinically. However, he was grossly offside.
The hosts had another big chance late in stoppage time, but Junior Crupi’s shot agonizingly sailed over the far post from close range.
The result moved Bournemouth up to ninth in the table, while Brentford missed out on the chance to leapfrog Chelsea into sixth.
