In the fierce duel between Bournemouth and Newcastle United, a match that could have been won by a Bournemouth shutout ended in a 1-1 draw due to the intervention of VAR. In an interview with Sky Sports after the match, Bournemouth manager Ilora expressed his strong dissatisfaction and disappointment with the killer goal that was canceled by VAR in injury time.
It's really hard to digest," said an emotional Elaura. What happened was so obvious and we should have won the game. I'm going to be blunt now and express my displeasure, but please understand that it's nothing personal against the referee. The problem is that the referee had initially ruled the goal valid but then chose to go and look at the VAR monitor. If he had gone to look at it in the first place, I'm sure he would have stuck with his initial call and decided it was a valid goal. However, the reality was harsh and they made a call that was factually incorrect."
As for the handball controversy ruled by VAR, Ilaura was even more argumentative: "The ball didn't touch Ouattara's skin at all, the sleeves of our jersey are very short, so the ball just lightly touched his shoulder. In this case, the referee should have awarded the penalty in our favor. But unfortunately he was influenced by the instructions in his headset and had to change his decision."
Ilaura also expressed concerns about the fairness of the soccer game, "In two weeks' time, maybe no one will remember this, but for me it is an unacceptable result. We were told to give more power to the referees, but now it seems that this power is being abused. As a manager, I feel very frustrated and powerless because a penalty like that directly changes the outcome of the game."
In addition, Ilaura briefly touched on the uncalled foul on Neto by Chorrington, but made it clear that it was not the focus of his attention at the moment: "I don't even want to discuss too much about that foul. I'm more concerned right now about the VAR's incorrect call on our goal, which is the real reason why we failed to win. As for the red card issue, it won't change the outcome of the game that has already happened."
