2 days Ago By [email protected] (Matthew Cooper)
Ian Wright and Roy Keane have slammed Milos Kerkez's suspension for Bournemouth's FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester City as "pathetic". The Bournemouth player was booked in the team's victory over Wolves in the previous round following an altercation with Matheus Cunha. Cunha received a four-match ban and a hefty £50,000 fine for retaliating against Kerkez with a kick and a headbutt, actions that saw him sent off with a red card.
Kerkez, on the other hand, was given a yellow card for his involvement. The booking meant that Kerkez, who had also been cautioned in Bournemouth's fourth-round triumph over Everton, would miss the crucial match against City. As a result, Andoni Iraola gave 20 year old Julio Soler his second start for the club.
Wright and Keane , however, believe Kerkez's suspension was unwarranted. "Wow, that is tough," Wright commented on ITV after viewing a replay of the incident. "All he's trying to do is get the ball.
", reports the Mirror . Keane chimed in, saying: "To get punished..
. obviously the punishment comes today in missing such a big game. It's a hard one to take, definitely and it'll be a huge loss.
" Wright went on to say: "Pathetic for him to be suspended for that. They should be able to look at that and see it's not something he should be suspended for. Why wouldn't they do that? It's blatantly obvious to see.
" Iraola also expressed his frustration with the decision, confessing in his post-match press conference that he was "very disappointed" with the referee. "The consequences for Cunha is okay, they are out of the cup," Iraola remarked. "But the consequences, for example, for Milos Kerkez, he has, I think they told me after the game, he has received a yellow card because, I've written it down, 'adopting an aggressive attitude'.
Yellow card. "After what they have done to Milos Kerkez, they should reward him because the attitude he has had. They punch him, they kick him on the floor, they headbutt him and he doesn't react.
"You punish this. But I will have to say to Milos, probably as a player, I cannot react as well as he did. Definitely I'm not reacting as well as he did.
"And the prize is they show him a yellow card and he will not play the quarterfinals in, I don't know, if it's the most important game of the season for us, but definitely one of the most important ones. "So, yes, I'm very disappointed with the refereeing. Very disappointed, yes.
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