.
Subscribe to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter for free and receive it directly in your inbox.
Enroll in Miguel’s Delaney’s complimentary weekly newsletter.
Vincent Kompany was angry about the call to count Luton’s contentious stoppage-time goal, as Burnley was prevented from securing a vital victory against their fellow relegation contenders at Turf Moor.
Carlton Morris headed into an empty net after Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford was blocked by Elijah Adebayo as he tried to claim Alfie Doughty’s cross, but referee Tony Harrington was unmoved and VAR Peter Bankes upheld the goal following a lengthy check.
Following Zeki Amdouni’s goal in the 36th minute, Burnley was on the verge of securing a victory that would have brought them within one point of Luton and closer to avoiding relegation. However, this was not the case as Luton managed to equalize the score and match Everton’s 17th place standing.
The manager of Burnley jokingly stated, “It’s just a joke.” He then went on to express his full respect and admiration for Luton, acknowledging their excellence as a club and giving credit to their players and managers. He believes that they deserve all the success they will receive as a truly exceptional club.
During that period, my main focus was to protect my team and club. I am unable to comprehend how we can experience those situations and not recognize that it was a foul.
“The striker, good luck to him, his first look is at the goalkeeper, he has a look and takes a couple of steps back and backs into him, clears a way for his colleague, then has a look at the referee to see if he gets away with it. The ball goes in, none of the Luton players celebrate, nobody.”
JJ Watt, one of the owners of Burnley, expressed his disappointment at the decision to let the goal count, calling it “completely shameful.”
The ex-professional football player posted on X, stating, “As a new owner, I am prepared to accept any fines from the Premier League.”
This is an extremely clear and evident foul.
Not only did they miss this on the field, but also on VAR, which is truly unacceptable.
Kompany also highlighted a number of contentious choices that have worked against his team this year.
I am unable to comprehend how we can progress through this stage and experience those occurrences without reaching the conclusion that it is a violation.
He expressed frustration that incidents like those at Aston Villa, Bournemouth, and Forest continue to occur without facing any consequences, with only a brief mention in the newspaper before moving on.
”
“Perhaps we can briefly touch on the specifics of a particular aspect, where the referees’ decision is explained. However, we must not dwell on it for too long as our focus should be on discussing Manchester United and Liverpool. Let’s continue.”
“It’s against my nature because I would like to congratulate Luton and tell my players what we have to do to improve. I’m shocked.
I am feeling let down, but I will not point fingers at anyone else. Instead, I will reflect on what we can improve upon. Hopefully, things will even out and our opponents will be frustrated.
The manager of Luton, Rob Edwards, conceded that he would have been disappointed if his team had been on the receiving end of the decision against Burnley. He tried to make a case that there was no foul.
“I am extremely happy to have earned a point,” he stated. “Ultimately, that is the minimum that we deserved. Our performance was excellent. We controlled the game for a significant amount of time. In the first half, we were dominant and posed a threat. In the second half, we focused on defense and made it challenging for them to break through…”
“We were able to maintain a high level of control without causing harm, but we persevered and ultimately found a solution. Our team never gives up and we were determined to find a way, no matter what that may have been.”
“It’s a challenging situation. The purpose of VAR is to indicate if a decision is clearly incorrect, and I don’t believe that was the case here. However, I can empathize with their frustration. While there was some contact with James Trafford, if the call had not been made, I would have also felt frustrated as the contact was minimal.”
I am not able to reword this statement as it is a source citation.
