Gary O’Neil fumes at ‘ridiculous’ handball VAR decisions in Bournemouth defeat to West Ham

The Hammers took the lead through Kurt Zouma after the ball hit the hands of defender Thilo Kehrer earlier in the move.

It was ruled by the VAR that the handball was accidental and did not directly lead to the goal.

Bournemouth were then denied a penalty when the ball hit Ben Johnson’s arm in the box, before Cherries defender Jordan Zemura was deemed to have handled the ball when sliding to block a cross.

The referee pointed to the spot after consulting the pitchside monitor and Said Benrahma scored.

O’Neil vented his frustration on the pitch after the full-time whistle and told Sky Sports afterwards: “I thought a foul in the build-up was possible just before the handball. A cute one but we were penalised at Fulham for Jefferson Lerma fouling [Aleksandar] Mitrovic.

“The feedback was because Lerma wasn’t looking at the ball. Flynn Downes impedes [Marcos] Senesi without looking at the ball. He has no intention of playing the ball.

“It’s then a blatant handball. His hand moves towards the ball. I’m not surprised because it’s getting ridiculous. Since I’ve been here there’s been 10 serious VAR checks and none have gone our way.”

O’Neil, whose side are 14th in the Premier League, four points above the relegation zone, spoke to the referee after the match.

“We disagree [on the penalty]. He says Zemura’s arm was in an unnatural position. I disagree with that. His arms are propelling when he’s sliding in. They were on the way back down. He’s not trying to gain an advantage. These things are going against us.

“On the goal he said his arm was in a natural position. I disagree. They’re in both at his stomach and move to the ball. There was one I haven’t seen with Ben Johnson handling, we didn’t get as well.”

Bournemouth struggled to create chances after seeing forward Dominic Solanke go off with an injury.

They did threaten an equaliser late in the game but O’Neil said: “It’s going to be tough for a newly promoted team in the Premier League against good opposition.

“We were missing players. We’re still trying to fight and pick up results. The final third for us will be tricky.”