Premier League issue statement after three controversial moments during Aston Villa vs Bournemouth

Unai Emery’s men will feel they have dropped points after conceding to an Evanilson header deep in second-half stoppage time.

The result feels all the more frustrating due to a disallowed goal, too, as skipper John McGinn saw a curled effort chalked off for the ball rolling out of play in the build-up. Ollie Watkins thought he’d kept Villa’s attack alive but VAR stepped in to suggest the ball had narrowly left the field.

That said, Villa perhaps got the rub of the green as Bournemouth were denied two huge penalty shouts in the second half. Matty Cash took a huge risk to slide in on Antoine Semenyo, but Kavanagh instead booked the attacker for simulation. A separate incident saw the ball brush Leon Bailey’s arm, but Kavanagh said it was ball-to-hand.

All of the incidents mentioned certainly caused a stir around Villa Park with many a debate held between supporters in attendance. As many of the key moments were disputable, the Premier League issued three statements to clear up the calls made by the officials.

The first, relating to McGinn’s disallowed goal, read: “The referee’s call of goal for Aston Villa was checked by the VAR. 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.”

Another statement, explaining Cash being let off, said: “The referee’s call of no penalty for simulation by Semenyo was checked and confirmed by VAR.”

Finally, a third statement read: “The referee’s call of no penalty for the potential handball by Bailey was checked and confirmed by the VAR - deeming that his arm was in a justifiable position.”