Burnley vs Bournemouth. Premier League.
Turf MoorAttendance18,227.
Report and free highlights as Burnley capitalise on VAR decisions
Sunday 23 February 2020 10:05, UK
Burnley were given a helping hand by VAR as they capitalised on two disallowed Bournemouth goals to maintain their push for Europe with a 3-0 victory at Turf Moor on Saturday.
Joshua King thought he had opened the scoring for the visitors on 22 minutes, only for his close-range strike to be chalked off after VAR ruled the ball had struck Philip Billing's arm in the build-up.
Matej Vydra fired Burnley in front on 53 minutes with his second goal in as many games, but worse was yet to come for Eddie Howe's side.
In a remarkable two-minute spell, Harry Wilson had an equalising goal ruled out after Adam Smith was adjudged to have handled the ball in the Bournemouth area in the previous passage of play, and VAR awarded Burnley a penalty.
Jay Rodriguez doubled Burnley's lead from the spot before Dwight McNeil added a stunning late third to move the Clarets to within three points of fifth in the race for Europe and leave Bournemouth just two points above the relegation zone.
Bournemouth's confident and composed start yielded the first opening inside three minutes, but having brilliantly flicked the ball over his head, Callum Wilson's instinctive volley drew a fine save from Nick Pope with his feet.
It took 10 minutes for Burnley to draw Aaron Ramsdale into action in the Bournemouth goal. Jack Cork's rasping drive took two attempts to hold before Vydra was thwarted after shifting away from Simon Francis and Steve Cook.
Bournemouth thought they had taken the lead on 22 minutes when King bundled the ball home from close range after Billing flicked on a corner at the near post, but the Cherries celebrations were short-lived as a VAR review ruled Billing had helped the ball on with the top of his arm.
Undeterred, Bournemouth's dominance continued but Pope proved impenetrable as Harry Wilson's stooping header and Jack Stacey's effort were thwarted.
Not to be outdone, Pope's opposite number Ramsdale produced a brilliant smothering save to deny Vydra on the counter before half-time, but the Czech eventually broke the deadlock when he evaded the offside trap and lifted the ball over the Cherries stopper within eight minutes of the restart.
But that was just the start of the drama. Bournemouth hit Burnley with a devastating counter-attack shortly before the hour mark that ended with Harry Wilson poking home under Pope, but in a remarkable turn of events VAR pulled play back to award Burnley a penalty after Smith's handball moments before the break.
Rodriguez made no mistake rifling the ball into the top corner from 12 yards, and not content with just the two-goal lead, Burnley laid siege to the Bournemouth goal as Rodriguez forced a fine save from Ramsdale and Vydra turned a gilt-edged chance wide with the goal at his mercy.
But McNeil finished things off in style with a thunderous left-footed drive into the top corner as Burnley added fuel to their push for European football.
Burnley manager Sean Dyche: "I can understand why the first one [VAR decision] was given because it hits his shoulder and leads to a goal. I thought the second one with the counter was a penalty the second it happened; I haven't changed my mind on that. His arm goes into an unnatural position so therefore it is a penalty.
"It was bizarre they went up the other end and scored, we hope that doesn't happen too many times because it is frustrating for the people that don't get the decision, but inevitably the right decision was made on that one."
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe: "It's really tough day of football for us. We were excellent in the first half and deserved to be in front. The VAR incidents have both gone against us and it was like a three-goal swing went against us, which was really tough for the players to deal with psychologically.
"It's clear the first one hits Phil's [Billing] shoulder, so that should count, and without that first goal getting ruled out, I don't think VAR would have got involved with the second either. Adam [Smith] has told me it hit his shoulder, I have to believe what he tells me, so the penalty shouldn't have been given and it should have been 1-1 with the momentum with his having scored."
Soccer Saturday pundit Matt Le Tissier…
"From the angles I saw first for the first goal, it looked like the ball came off the top of Billing's shoulder. But at half-time I saw another angle where it looked a bit more like it hit is arm, so I did perhaps understand why they disallowed the goal.
"But the second decision is really harsh, it didn't look like a deliberate handball. It's a windy day, it's difficult to judge the conditions, he hasn't stuck his arm out, the wind has just caught the ball and hit the top of his shoulder.
"So having thought they'd equalised, in the space of a few seconds Bournemouth were two goals down. It was a double whammy and it really shook them, they were deflated and from that moment there was only one team that was going to win the game. Burnley created so many chances it could have been fours or fives, and Bournemouth probably got away lightly."
Burnley's Dwight McNeil (20 years, 92 days) is the youngest player reach 10 Premier League assists since Raheem Sterling (19 years, 335 days) in November 2014. In fact, McNeil has both scored and assisted in the same Premier League game for the first time in his career.
Burnley travel to Newcastle and Bournemouth host Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday at 3pm.
