Bournemouth manager hits out at Kai Havertz ‘trying to find’ contact to win penalty

Kai Havertz was accused of “trying to find” contact to win Arsenal’s controversial penalty, with Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola suggesting that it would encourage coaches and players to go looking for fouls.

With the match goalless as half-time approached, Havertz surged clear and took the ball around Mark Travers only to go down when his trailing leg made contact with the Bournemouth goalkeeper.

Referee David Coote immediately signalled for the penalty and, after a lengthy VAR delay, it was concluded that there was no obvious error and that Bukayo Saka should be given the chance to put Arsenal into a crucial lead en route to their 3-0 win.

Iraola, however, thought that VAR would simply have upheld whatever decision Coote had made and felt that Havertz prioritised winning the penalty over attempting to score.

“I don’t think the game should have gone the way it has with the penalty decisions,” said Iraola. “Havertz is the one trying to find the contact. He is not going to the ball to score a goal. If we give a penalty because of this then, as a coach, I have to say try to do it next time… also try to find the contact… try to leave the leg there.

“If you are the ones in the VAR, they say it’s not a penalty, but probably they are thinking ‘There is contact so I cannot overturn it’.”

Travers admitted that there was contact but accused Havertz of having “dangled his leg out” as he tried to make a save. “From a goalkeeper’s point of view, I don’t understand,” he said. “It would be nice to see it get reviewed. There’s a lot of frustration from the lads.”

Havertz said that he “felt the contact” and then went down. “For me it’s a penalty – I said to the goalkeeper ‘you touched me’,” said Havertz.

Although Iraola acknowledged that Arsenal ultimately deserved their victory, his frustration was compounded when Bournemouth were denied a goal back after David Raya mistimed a punched clearance but Dominic Solanke was judged to have unfairly obstructed the Arsenal goalkeeper. Iraola thought there had been a much clearer infringement by Gabriel on Philip Billing and that it should either have been a goal or a penalty to Bournemouth.

“Billing is a much clearer penalty,” he said. “I think they were key moments. It’s difficult to accept.”

Bournemouth were arguably fortunate, however, that Ryan Christie was not sent off following a high studs up first-half tackle on Saka. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta claimed that he had not seen any of the controversial incidents.

“I was happy when I saw the [penalty] decision, very happy,” said Arteta. “I was happier when Bukayo scored the goal. Kai is not someone that dives.

“The honest answer is I haven’t seen any of the incidents because I knew you were going to ask me. The analysts said, ‘do you want to watch it’ and I said ‘no because then I can tell the truth’. I haven’t seen them so I cannot comment or have an impression.”

Havertz won penalty with simulation, and Bournemouth goal should have stood

One of the biggest areas of improvement that Howard Webb and his referees need to make over the summer is the recognition of fouls and consistency of awarding them. This is particularly important for challenges in the area.

In Arsenal’s win over Bournemouth at the Emirates, the away side will rightly feel aggrieved that they had a goal ruled out for a foul on goalkeeper David Raya by Dominic Solanke. The contact was minimal and not enough for a foul to be awarded.

Similar challenges throughout the season have not been punished and Arsenal should consider themselves fortunate that Antoine Semenyo’s goal was ruled out by the referee and then backed up by the VAR.

An error was also made when it came to a penalty being awarded to Mikel Arteta’s side for a challenge on Kai Havertz. This was textbook simulation from Havertz, and it brought a wry smile to my face. The forward clearly used his trailing leg to manufacture contact with the goalkeeper and convince David Coote to award a decision.

This is exactly the type of situation where VAR should intervene and overturn a decision. On first viewing, it is understandable that Coote gave a penalty. The replays show what actually transpired, which was not a penalty and in fact should have resulted in a booking for Havertz. It is wrong that the original decision remained.

Although Arsenal got the rub of the green on the two decisions mentioned above, it should also be highlighted that Bournemouth should have gone down to 10 men in the first half for Ryan Christie’s challenge on Bukayo Saka. He clearly makes contact with his studs high up Saka’s leg and it is a red card every day of the week. How that outcome was not reached, despite a check from VAR, is truly baffling.

Saka was visibly upset with the decision, and that is very understandable given the marks on his leg made it very clear what had happened. A curious call.