adminBournemouth manager Andoni Iraola insisted the referee “lost control of the game” after watching his team surrender a two-goal lead in a dramatic defeat to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
The Cherries went 2–0 ahead through Amine Adli and Tyler Adams, but Sunderland fought their way back. Enzo Le Fée converted a penalty to pull one back before Bertrand Traoré and substitute Brian Brobbey struck in the second half to complete an impressive comeback for the home side.
Iraola acknowledged Brobbey’s “great header” but expressed deep dissatisfaction with the overall officiating.
“When you’re 2–0 up and go home with zero points, it’s tough,” he said.
“We knew this would be a difficult match, and recently defensive set pieces have really been hurting us. We conceded two from set plays and a penalty — all areas we knew were their strengths. When we review the game tomorrow, we’ll probably see we did a lot of things well, but it wasn’t enough.
“I accept that discipline has been an issue, but if you were a Bournemouth fan or anyone watching from our side today, you’d think everybody deserved a yellow or red card. I got a yellow, and even my assistants got yellow cards.
“Our players must keep calm, but I think the referee had a huge influence today. Honestly, I wanted us to score the 3–3 just so I could complain more about him. Now that we’ve lost, it sounds like an excuse — but he absolutely lost control of the game.
“It wasn’t just one decision. It started with the penalty. The third goal came from a foul on the halfway line where there was nothing. Yes, we must look at ourselves — set-piece defending is costing us a lot. Around 80% of the goals we’ve conceded in the last few games have come from set plays. But the referee was extremely influential — very, very influential.”
Bournemouth’s frustrations grew worse as the match left them with three suspensions. Iraola admitted it was difficult to criticise his players given his own behaviour on the touchline.
“This is very costly for us. We’re losing Marco Senesi, David Brooks, and Lewis Cook for the Everton game,” he said.
“They’re very important players. I’ll show the squad the footage, but it’s hard — even for me. I got a yellow card and could easily have been shown a second. We were playing well and in control.
“As for the penalty, there was a foul five seconds earlier. And when a penalty takes VAR five minutes to check, I expected it to be overturned. When they spend that long, it usually means they know there’s been a mistake — they’re just not sure if it’s big enough for VAR to change the decision. I think that’s exactly what happened. Otherwise, you don’t spend five minutes reviewing a penalty.”
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