The Premier League have issued a statement explaining why Dango Ouattara’s goal for Bournemouth against Newcastle was disallowed.
Ouattara put the ball in the net from close-range, celebrating what he thought was a third goal for the Cherries at St James’ Park. The celebrations didn’t last long, though, with a VAR check finding that the ball had gone out of play seconds earlier.
“The referee’s call of goal for Bournemouth was checked by the VAR,” a post from the Premier League Match Centre account read. “As there was factual evidence that the ball was out of play in the build-up to the goal, the VAR recommended that the goal was disallowed.”
Bournemouth had led 2-1 at the time of the incident, which occurred just after the hour mark. Justin Kluivert scored twice in the first half, with Bruno Guimaraes briefly bringing Newcastle level in the interim, and Kluivert went on to complete his hat-trick before Milos Kerkez added a late fourth for the visitors.
“Bournemouth have been too quick and too strong for Newcastle,” former Celtic manager Neil Lennon said during BBC Radio 5 Live’s coverage. “Newcastle have got away with one.”
It was the second time in as many games that Newcastle benefited from VAR disallowing an opponent’s goal. Wolves defender Santi Bueno saw an effort chalked off in midweek, though Eddie Howe’s side were already 3-0 up at the time.
“”Bueno’s goal was awarded on-field. The VAR deemed that Bueno handled the ball immediately before scoring and recommended that the goal was disallowed,” a statement about the Wolves effort read.
Was VAR right to intervene to disallow the goal? Give your verdict in the comments section
Ouattara thought he had scored for the fourth time in five games until VAR intervened. The Burkinabe international has been enjoying a run in the side as manager Andoni Iraola attempts to deal with a major injury crisis at the Vitality Stadium, with six of their eight outfield subs having zero Premier League experience.
“Half of the teams in the Premier League, they have seven, eight or nine injuries but in the very short squad that is ours, you suffer it more than others,” Iraola told reporters ahead of the game. “Chelsea the other day had six or seven injuries, but you don’t notice because they still had 23 [players available to face Bournemouth in midweek].
“We have six or seven injuries and for us, it’s a big deal. It changes the perception a lot. I think, definitely, the busy schedule plays its part.
“If you are playing every three or four days, especially in December/January, the demands of the competitions and the way we make the players play are very demanding, but for every team. The football business is accepting that, ‘We’re going to lose a lot of players in the meantime, but there will continue being games. It doesn’t matter the injuries we have, the games will go on.’ We have to adapt and keep going, and that is what we’re trying to do.”
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