There are two ways things could go for Burnley at the moment. Come together in the face of what they see as more injustice. Or perish.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to argue for anything other than the latter. Turf Moor couldn’t even muster his visceral cheers. Just a grim acceptance of what happened.
With the way football is now and how VAR is once again running the Premier League, Elijah Adebayo fouled James Trafford in the 93rd minute of a seismic evening in the relegation shootout.
Referee Tony Harrington might have missed the incident, Carlton Morris nodded calmly at the equalizer and VAR Peter Bankes saw no reason to overturn the decision.
Maybe Bankes was right. Perhaps it is good that contact can be allowed with goalkeepers, who are protected like no other, but then Vincent Kompany wonders about consistency. He remembers the steady stream of terrible phone calls Burnley received this year.
Vincent Kompany criticized the decision to allow Luton’s late equalizer against Burnley
Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford appeared to be thwarted by Luton striker Elijah Adebayo as he tried to claim a cross, before Carlton Morris headed home to level the score.
Referee Tony Harrington allowed the goal before his decision was confirmed by VAR
Burnley’s players protested against the decision which denied them the crucial three points at Turf Moor
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Whether last night was right or wrong – it certainly felt wrong – can anyone really claim to know what to expect when the laws of the game are applied? The PGMOL said it was merely a coming together between two players and could not be undone. The referees on the field seem confused. The whole thing is becoming a farce and threatens to turn fans away from the game.
Kompany took a long run-up before bursting in and bouncing around the jaw of the Premier League, whistling. “I’m just thinking,” he began. ‘Look what happened to us (with decisions) at Aston Villa. Bournemouth away. Nottingham Forest away. What are we doing? It is a joke. A joke.
‘How many times is this going to happen? Remember when the Tottenham-Liverpool incident happened? That dragged on for weeks. Look at the reality of our situation and it won’t drag on for weeks. We must speak out.
‘He’s looked at the goalkeeper, bumped into him, looked at the referee to see if he can get away with it and none of the Luton players are cheering. It may be a good idea to take a few days off. I want to fight for this sport. The fact that the referees miss something that we all see is the result of a general confusion.’
In an earlier conversation with TNT Sports, Kompany had similarly expressed his frustrations with the officials.
He had said: ‘First I expect the referee to see it. It was that clear. None of the Luton players were celebrating. No one. The striker’s first look is at Trafford and then at the referee. Just to see if he could get away with it.
‘Luckily we have VAR, so we think: ‘Okay, then it will be fine’. And then it rolls and rolls, there is a decision missing and the score is 1-1.’
The Belgian had tried to remain calm, but had difficulty hiding his frustrations.
He added: ‘I also want people to understand how much it goes against my nature to complain about such things. I want to continue with the game. I want to play football.
“And I want to tell my guys when they did a bad job and when they did a good job. But here I am thinking: what should I tell them?
‘Like I don’t understand what happened to them a few weeks ago (at Villa), and what’s happened to them now? What happened to them earlier in the season? I don’t know how to tell them anymore.
“The frustration of this is very hard to hide and very hard to stomach. But tomorrow I’ll look at what our team should do better. As usual.’
Luton Town deserved something from the evening. Ross Barkley had Burnley about a third in charge, but the Clarets were still well on their way to a fourth win of the campaign. Trafford in particular came across with confidence. There was growing belief that this could act as a catalyst for their survival after Zeki Amdouni bundled in what looked to be a 36th-minute winner.
“To be honest with you, I’d be as disappointed as they are,” said Luton boss Rob Edwards. “But if it wasn’t allowed, it would have been quite soft. It’s a difficult one.
‘I’m glad they made that decision clearly because it got us a point, but I understand their frustrations. VAR can work with factual decisions – offside – but not when it comes to someone’s opinion.
‘But we are very happy with a point and we were excellent. We dominated big parts of the game, I liked certain aspects of it.”
Edwards was right. He talked about taking control without hurting Burnley, with Trafford making some smart saves, although he wasn’t overly tense either. Barkley showed ‘an air of confidence, a good arrogance’ in the middle of the park, according to his manager, and remains a smart signing.
Kompany thought the disallowing of the goal was an ‘obvious’ decision by the referee and could not believe that the goal was given
Luton boss Rob Edwards understood Kompany’s frustrations but was pleased with his side’s performance
Burnley’s opener came against the run of play. Wilson Odobert made good on his threat to do damage down the left, abruptly forcing Teden Mengi into reverse as he skipped to the byline and took a deflection to whip a cross into a dangerous area. Amdouni shifted his feet and pushed past Thomas Kaminski.
Only Sheffield United is closer to goal than Burnley. David Fofana, the Chelsea striker whose loan at Union Berlin was cut short with a solitary goal, was in the stands ready to complete his temporary move this weekend, but given his record it may be unfair to expect him to he will save them from relegation alone.
They didn’t finish this, Odobert and Lyle Foster came close, before the controversy took over, and Morris came in. A moment that sent the boardroom into a frenzy. “I’m new to this ownership thing so if I get fined by the Premier League then so be it,” said director JJ Watt. “This is as egregious and obvious a violation as it is possible to commit. To miss this on the pitch AND miss this on the VAR is a real shame.’