Burnley boss Kompany draws parallels between VAR and casino

After Bournemouth’s incredible second-half goal from Philip Billing denied Burnley a win against another struggling side, the Clarets manager Vincent Kompany was infuriated.

Both Bournemouth and Burnley were under early-season pressure, and the match presented a prime opportunity for them to clinch a rare win. Consequently, it became an open, see-saw encounter from the very beginning.

The Clarets took the lead in the 11th minute when Charlie Taylor unleashed a left-footed volley through a congested penalty area.

The goal resulted from a corner kick that was partially cleared, falling to Dara O’Shea, who deftly cushioned the ball into Taylor’s path with a header. Taylor struck the ball after a bounce, and Ionut Radu had no chance to make the save.

Bournemouth managed to level the score 11 minutes later when Antoine Semenyo embarked on a solo counter-attack down the left channel and slotted an exquisite outside-of-the-foot finish inside the far post, despite having a narrow shooting angle.

The last 15 minutes of the match were equally eventful. First, Philip Billing put Bournemouth in the lead with a long-range lob over goalkeeper James Trafford.

The Danish midfielder intercepted a stray pass just inside his own half, took a few calculated touches, and unleashed a shot from just inside the center circle.

Although Trafford managed to get a hand on the ball as he scrambled backward, he couldn’t prevent it from going in.

What happened to Burnley in Bournemouth defeat?

For a split second, Burnley believed they had tied the score via Jay Rodriguez just before the ninety-minute mark. The VAR conducted a five-minute goal check after that.

The video review first declared Rodriguez offside, but it later looked like he was onside even though the still photo showed the green indicator line going across his head.

The indicator lines were redrawn, and ultimately Rodriguez was declared offside as supporters of both teams became impatient and began to sing inside the stadium, “This is embarrassing.”

This week, concerns over his personal future were plaguing Vincent Kompany, whose side are now 19th on the Premier League rankings.

After ten league games, his team has already lost eight of them.

The Belgian has now talked about his displeasure with VAR’s usage in the match after it was over.

“It’s sometimes like going to the casino and putting all your chips on black or red. I could see them changing angles, drawing different lines. Sometimes the line turned up green, which means it’s onside, and sometimes it turned out red, which means it’s offside”, Kompany told BBC Match of the Day.

“I completely understand that [the officials on the pitch] can make a mistake. It’s the process that worries me. We take five-to-seven minutes to review the offside. The line goes green which means it is a goal then the line goes red which means it’s not a goal. It was a tough one to take.”

What else did Vincent Kompany complain about?

The Belgian manager was equally visibly frustrated by a late handball incident inside the Bournemouth penalty area, which he believes went unnoticed by both the on-field officials and VAR.

“Game’s get decided on a knife-edge and in the last moment we don’t take time to review the handball when the players call for it. It’s the hand that brings the ball down. There’s no check, there’s no delay for the restart and we lose the game.

“For the first time in my career since I’ve been a manager, I’ve politely and calmly asked for a word of explanation from the officials. They seemed surprised that we wanted this to go to Var which means that no one in Var told them there was anything worth reviewing and it’s absolutely blatant.”

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