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Unhappy Bournemouth coach Andoni Iraola claims that a controversial penalty was awarded West Ham in a dramatic 1-1 draw at the Vitality Stadium went directly against the advice of Premier League referees.
After VAR intervention, the match official Chris Kavanagh penalized Cherries midfielder Tyler Adams after Aaron Wan-Bisaka’s cross hit his outstretched arm.
Replacement for hammers Niclas Fullkrug almost headed home Wan-Bissaka’s right wing, with Adams’ assessed foul going unnoticed by most of the country.
West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta he subsequently converted a contested 87th-minute strike before Enes Unal’s stunning 90th-minute free-kick rescued a point for the hosts.
Referring to discussions with Professional Game Match Officials Limited ahead of the current campaign, Iraola said: “I’m very, very disappointed with the penalty because it’s an action we discussed before the start of the season with the referees.
“They specifically instructed not to tell our players to defend with their hands behind their backs because it’s not natural.
“I said ‘OK, we’re giving these instructions (to put our hands behind our backs) because it’s costing us a penalty’ and he went, ‘no, don’t worry, it’s natural, it won’t cost you’. Bam, first: penalty.
“Obviously it’s natural because everybody who’s played football (knows) you run to block a shot, a cross, you end up with one hand down, one hand up, it’s always like that.
“It doesn’t change the trajectory much, they almost scored with a header from Fullkrug and I’m very disappointed.
“I don’t think anyone noticed live. But it’s not that no one noticed, but you specifically told us that the defenders can’t defend with their hands behind their backs because we don’t want this kind of game.
“What should I do next week? What should I say to the defenders?”
Paqueta coolly sent the ball into the bottom right corner from 12 yards and sparked wild scenes in the away side, but the Hammers’ joy was short-lived.
Iraola was not surprised to see Cherries substitute Unal fire a spectacular header into the top left corner from around 30 yards during a thrilling finish.
“I think everyone involved with the team immediately thought ‘this is going to be close’ because he trains a lot,” Iraola said.
“He is our specialist and the consistency is good.
“It’s always difficult because it was quite a long way away, but I think everyone felt that if it wasn’t the finish, they were going to get closer.”
Cherries striker Antoine Semenyo and Hammers captain Jarrod Bowen hit the wall in the opening period to edge the visitors.
The hosts improved after the restart and squandered a series of second-half chances before a late turnaround.
Bournemouth moved up to sixth – to move above Aston Villa on goal difference – while West Ham remained 14th.
Hammers boss Julen Lopetegui, who enjoyed a much-needed 2-1 win over Wolves last Monday, said: “It was a shame for us because we were very close to getting the three points. But the truth is that Unal made a fantastic free kick.
“This was a very demanding game for both teams. We did very, very well in many minutes. We were better than them in the first half.
“We had more expected goals than them in the whole match, even though they had more shots.
“I think there are very positive things about the team. The team showed very good behavior.”