FootyChatter.com

By JAMES SHARPE Published: 05: 00 AEDT, 2 March 2025 | Updated: 07: 01 AEDT, 2 March 2025 4 View comments A sudden-death penalty shootout, a wonder goal, a shocking red card and almost certainly the longest and most farcical VAR delay in English football history. How the bean counters must regret not putting this FA Cup classic on the box. Luis Sinisterra dispatched the crucial spot kick to send Bournemouth into the quarter-finals but those who witnessed this thrilling, dramatic, ill-tempered contest left the Vitality Stadium talking about the brilliance and brutality of Matheus Cunha and wondering why on earth they had to wait eight minutes to find out that Dean Huijsen’s first-half goal had been ruled out for offside. Wolves forward Cunha’s 25-yard stunner after an hour levelled the scoring after Evanlison’s first-half opener but left the field in disgrace just before the shootout after he punched, kicked and then headbutted Bournemouth defender Milos Kerkez. Cunha will now serve at least a three-game ban having already missed two games through suspension earlier this season after stealing the glasses of an Ipswich steward. That previous ban will have no impact on how many games he misses now. ‘Matheus is a special player, ’ said Wolves boss Vitor Periera in his defence, who admitted he had not yet spoken to Cunha about the incident.   ‘If I have a problem with my wife, I say in this moment I am nervous, you are nervous, it is better to speak to tomorrow. In football it is impossible to go into a dressing room with everyone tired and frustrated and to start speaking. The ideas are not calm or clear. ’ Bournemouth moved into the FA Cup quarter-finals with a dramatic penalty shootout win Their victory came after Matheus Cunha was sent off for a headbutt in extra time Cunha had scored a stunning equaliser earlier in the game but then saw red in the final minute of extra time Huijsen thought he’d doubled Bournemouth’s advantage in the first half when he and Kerkez bundled combined to bundle a corner into the net at the back post. Officials spent eight minutes trying to decide who had touched it last, whether they had handballed it and if they were in an offside position. ‘This isn’t football, ’ chanted both sets of fans. What made it even more embarrassing was this was the first weekend in which new semi-automated offside technology was being used, which is supposed to speed up such decisions, but referee Sam Barrott had to call both managers over to tell them it wasn’t working. ‘He said we have checked the handball, there is no handball but the semi-auto is not working properly so we have to use the manual lines, ’ said Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola. ‘I was very disappointed with the referees. It is a game we should have won earlier. ’ The Premier League and FA insist the system had not failed but used the manual lines because of how close and crowded the offside call was. The incident also overshadowed how cruel the result was on Wolves keeper Sam Johnstone who pulled off two stunning saves in extra-time to deny Sinisterra and Lewis Cook from close range to force the shootout in which he saved another from Huijsen. Evanilson put Bournemouth ahead in the first half at the Vitality Stadium Bournemouth thought they had doubled their lead but there was then an eight-minute VAR delay The goal was eventually ruled out after the semi-automated offside technology failed to work Cunha's moment of madness meant he was not on the pitch for the penalty shootout Luis Sinisterra fired home the decisive penalty to seal Bournemouth's place in the quarter-finals Bournemouth (4-2-3-1): Arrizabalaga 6; Cook 7, Hill 7. 5, Huijsen 7, Kerkez 6. 5; Scott 6, Adams 7; Brooks 6. 5 (Kluivert 67, 7), Tavernier 7. 5, SEMENYO 8 (Jebbison 106); Evanilson 7. 5 (Ouattara 67, 7. 5) Scorers: Evanilson 30 Booked: Huijsen, Scott, Kluivert, Hill, Kerkez Manager: Andoni Iraola 7. 5 Wolves (3-4-2-1): Johnstone 7. 5; Djiga 6. 5 (Traore 86), Bueno 7, Toti 7. 5; Semedo 6. 5 (Doherty 72, 6), Gomes 6. 5 (Andre 72, 7), Bellegarde 6 (Pond 91), Ait-Nouri 7. 5; Sarabia 6 (Munetsi 72, 6. 5), Cunha 6. 5, Strand Larsen 7 Scorers: Cunha 60 Booked: Gomes, Semedo, Strand Larsen, Ait-Nouri Manager: Vitor Pereira 6 Referee: Sam Barrott 6 Attendance: 11, 021 Wolves had the chance to win it in the shootout after Huijsen failed to beat Johnstone but Doherty put the effort wide. Cherries boss Iraola was also left raging after Kerkez was booked in the melee with Cunha and will now miss the quarter-final. ‘They should reward him, ’ added Iraola. ‘They punched him, kicked him on the floor and headbutted him and he didn’t react. He will now miss the most important game of the season. ’

Share what you think

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mail Online.

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your Mail Online comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to Mail Online as usual.   Do you want to automatically post your Mail Online comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to Mail Online as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on Mail Online. To do this we will link your Mail Online account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy. Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group