Andoni Iraola questions VAR decision to not give ‘clear’ Bournemouth penalty

Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola was angry his side were not given a penalty as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Brentford in the Premier League.

Iraola felt Marcus Tavernier was impeded by Bees defender Michael Kayode before he hit the post early in the second half.

The Spaniard said: “I am very pleased with the performance. It was one of our better performances lately, even better than some we have won, but we could not score.

“We had some very clear chances and hit the post twice. We also had a big penalty decision that did not go our away. VAR checked and cleared it within five seconds.

“Tavs was going to score and was clearly fouled, but somehow neither the referee nor VAR give the penalty. In my opinion it was so clear.”

Tavernier was twice denied by the post in the second half as Bournemouth created no fewer than five clear-cut chances but were unable to find the back of the net.

Defender James Hill also put a free header over in the first half while Ryan Christie could only find the side netting after rounding Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.

Substitute Junior Kroupi also saw his goal-bound effort deflected wide by his own teammate, Enes Unal, in second-half stoppage time.

The draw means Bournemouth have still never beaten Brentford in the Premier League and have now drawn four of their last five matches.

Iraola added: “I have a lot of positives from today. We played very well against a very good team. We defended well and had many clear chances to score.

“I think we recovered today a little bit of our identity. We showed a lot of intensity and won a lot of second balls. I am pleased with a lot of things.”

Bees boss Keith Andrews was pleased to come away with a point as his side made it five away games unbeaten in all competitions.

Andrews said: “I am pleased with a lot of aspects of our game. We showed a lot of desire and grit out of possession.

“After conceding three goals against Burnley at the weekend, we got back to basics in that part of our game against a very dangerous team going forward.

“We could have been better on the ball and a little more quality in our decision making in the opposing half would have opened them up.

“Overall I am pleased with the result.

“Performances away from home have gradually been getting better and we have matured as a group. It was important we got that result tonight.

“It was a really competitive game with two good teams going for it and not content to sit back. I enjoyed the game.”