Match report and free highlights as Bournemouth win for first time in Premier League under Andoni Iraola; Philip Billing's fine lob secures comeback victory; Antoine Semenyo cancelled out Charlie Taylor's opener; Jay Rodriguez's effort ruled out in stoppage time after five-minute VAR check
Saturday 28 October 2023 19:35, UK
Bournemouth won for the first time in the Premier League under Andoni Iraola as Philip Billing's brilliant lob secured a 2-1 comeback victory over fellow strugglers Burnley - but there was late VAR drama at the Vitality Stadium.
Charlie Taylor's first goal for Burnley thundered the visitors in front early on (11) but Antoine Semenyo, who impressed throughout, brought Bournemouth level 11 minutes later with his own fine effort.
The first half was a lively one with both teams open at the back, but the nature of the contest shifted in the second half with Bournemouth assuming control and their dominance was rewarded when Billing spotted Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford off his line and executed a long-range lob in spectacular fashion (76).
But then came a hugely controversial moment that could yet define Bournemouth's - and Burnley's - season. Jay Rodriguez thought he had equalised for Burnley with a composed finish as the game approached stoppage time but, after a five-minute VAR check, the effort was finally disallowed for offside. Sander Berge then went close to earning a point for Vincent Kompany's side, but the hosts held on.
The result was a much-needed one for Bournemouth and Iraola with owner Bill Foley watching on from the stands. The three points lifted the Cherries out of the Premier League relegation zone after 10 matches as Burnley slipped to 19th.
With Bournemouth captain Neto out injured, a Premier League debut was given to on-loan Inter Milan goalkeeper Andrei Radu, but the majority of action early on was in the visitors' half.
Poor passes by Billing and Marcus Tavernier halted dangerous Bournemouth attacks before the latter had a free-kick punched over by Trafford. It was a long-range pass by Trafford that helped get Kompany's team on the front foot again and they took the lead through an unlikely source in the 11th minute.
From Burnley's second corner in quick succession, Johann Gudmundsson's delivery was only partially cleared by Illia Zabarnyi to Dara O'Shea, who cushioned a header into the path of Taylor and the left-back rifled home with a sweet strike from 22 yards to score for the first time since 2015.
Burnley's joy should have been short lived when the recalled Semenyo was played in down the right and picked out Tavernier, but the left winger side-footed into the ground and over from six yards. Semenyo had been Bournemouth's brightest attacker though and it was no surprise when he conjured up the equaliser.
Taylor was at fault after Semenyo robbed the goalscorer of possession before he waltzed into the area and steered a left-footed shot through O'Shea's legs to level on 22 minutes.
Buoyed by the equaliser, Bournemouth finished the half strongly with Chris Mepham's header tipped over by Trafford, but it remained 1-1 at the break. Kompany had seen enough and introduced Rodriguez for the anonymous Zeki Amdouni during the interval, although it failed to have the desired effect.
Trafford continued to be the busier of the two goalkeepers but punched away another Tavernier cross before he blocked Semenyo's close-range effort to keep his side in it.
Berge was thrown on by Kompany on the hour mark with the match appearing to peter out towards a draw, but Billing had other ideas. After Vitinho gave away the ball under pressure by the halfway line, Billing controlled and lobbed over Trafford from 40 yards.
The drama was not over there with Rodriguez able to find the net in the 89th minute although the assistant referee immediately put his flag up. VAR reviewed the incident and after a five-minute check, it was finally deemed offside before Bournemouth were indebted to Radu, who saved two efforts by Berge deep into stoppage time to secure a priceless win for Iraola's men.
The check began after Rodriguez scored for Burnley in the closing stages of the game.
Initial replays without lines appeared to show the forward was offside however a green line then appeared on the screen suggesting he was onside.
Another angle then appeared showing that the green line was behind Rodriguez's head, suggesting a mistake had been made.
Finally, after six minutes of checking in total, a red line was drawn and the offside was given.
"As long as it is the right decision, I do not care if it takes 10 minutes as we rushed a decision at Tottenham recently and that was a catastrophe, but it is embarrassing," former Premier League referee Mike Dean said on Soccer Saturday.
"The first still we saw with the green light, it looked like they had the line drawn in the wrong place."
Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola: "We're relieved because we know we needed to win this one. It was a must-win for us playing against a team in a similar situation. We needed this first win, at home, with the help of the supporters. Especially after conceding the first goal, I think the players showed personality.
"We played really well. We could have scored more goals and we started the second half knowing the three points are what we needed and we had to suffer at the end, with the stoppage due to VAR. It was a really good win.
"The VAR took a lot of time, but it's true that they need to come to the right decision, even if it's against us. It has to be the right decision because the consequences can be huge."
For all the talk of the lengthy VAR check after Rodriguez's late strike, Burnley manager Vincent Kompany bemoaned a decision after that incident.
Deep into stoppage time, Kompany believes Chris Mepham handled the ball inside the six-yard box as Berge went close to equalising.
Kompany said: "It's about the non-VAR really. We've taken six minutes to draw the lines to check whether the whiff of a hair makes it offside or not and in the end it's a lottery. Unlucky for us, they decide it's offside. It was difficult for us to swallow.
"But then it wasn't even a header, it was a handball that brought the ball back down and there's no check, there's no nothing. No call for the VAR to delay the game, there's no moment where you see something happening, no question asked about that moment.
"For us, it's one too many. It happened against Forest and it happened again against Bournemouth."
Kompany added: "For the first time as a manager, I went to ask for an explanation and the officials were very open with me. Nobody in VAR has told them there's something to review - and the handball was as blatant as ever.
"The hand from the Bournemouth player near Berge brings the ball down. Why's it not reviewed? I'm fairly confident this decision would have taken the VAR 15 seconds."
Bournemouth host Liverpool in the Carabao Cup fourth round at the Vitality Stadium on Wednesday (kick-off 7.45pm). The Cherries then face a tough trip to Manchester City on Saturday in the Premier League (kick-off 3pm).
Burnley travel to Everton on Wednesday in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup (kick-off 7.45pm). Next Saturday the Clarets are back at Turf Moor in the Premier League with Crystal Palace the visitors (kick-off 3pm).
