Opposition boss makes 'nothing' claim as referee booed in Nottingham Forest draw

Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola and Forest counterpart Nuno Espirito Santo at the Vitality Stadium.

Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola has disputed the decision to reduce his side to 10 men during the 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest.

Referee Rebecca Welch had no hesitation in showing Cherries sub Billing a straight red for raking his studs down the back of Callum Hudson-Odoi’s right Achilles on 84 minutes at the Vitality Stadium. Hudson-Odoi had earlier fired home the Reds’ first-half equaliser after Justin Kluivert had earlier poked the hosts ahead.

Welch was later booed off the pitch by home fans at full time, and Iraola also disputed the decision, claiming it was too harsh.

He told the BBC: “I think his foot is touching the floor. It’s nothing dangerous. It’s too harsh to be a red card. There was nothing in there. I felt it was going to be a yellow.

“VAR has obviously seen it in and decided not to overturn the decision, but I think we did quite well with 10 players. We survived.”

Hudson-Odoi was incensed by the challenge, describing it as “horrific” after he was forced off the pitch in the final minutes of the game.

Iraola claimed his side had suffered from playing more recently than Forest. Bournemouth drew 1-1 at West Ham on Thursday while Forest were being beaten by Arsenal two days earlier on Tuesday.

He said: “They had much more rest than us. It affected us. There were 30-something fouls. It was too much. It affected us. We started very, very good but once we burnt some energy we couldn’t keep this level.

“We could feel the difference. [Forest played Tuesday]. They were fresher. That is the reason we made the subs early to keep the physical level.”

The draw saw Bournemouth climb a place to 12th in the Premier League table while Forest moved above Luton into 16th, two points above Everton in the final relegation slot.

Forest are at home to Newcastle in their next league match on 10 February (5.30pm kick-off).

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