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4 hours ago
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Scott Parker was left sad and disappointed by more video assistant referee controversy after Burnley’s spirited comeback came to nothing. The home side were 3-0 down in 34 minutes and facing hostility from their own fans, but fought back to level before having a fourth goal ruled out after Jaidon Anthony was adjudged to be a shoulder-width offside.
Mikkel Damsgaard then put Brentford back in front three minutes into injury time only for Ashley Barnes to net and spark scenes of jubilation, but his apparent equaliser was also chalked off, for handball, after a long delay.
Parker said: “Maybe a little bit of injustice. I’ve not watched it back. I saw it on the big screen and I was thinking it looks like his hand is beside his side. It looks so, so harsh.
“We’ve gone and scored five goals in the space of 60 minutes, which is quite incredible. The world we’re in, we’re all looking for perfection. The game is looking for perfection.”
Loud boos greeted the final whistle, but there had also been jeering and chants against Parker and the Burnley owner, Alan Pace, during and at the end of a woeful first half for the home side. They have not won at home in the league since October and ire towards team and hierarchy has been growing, but Parker hopes the response of his side will have won over some of the dissenters.
“Walking in from half-time, it wasn’t nice,” he said. “Everyone has choices to vent how they want to vent. The fans were brilliant in the second half, but that was down to us. I understand the frustration of course, we’re all frustrated at 3-0 down.
“There’s one thing our supporters can see leaving here , and you can be critical in certain moments, but the one thing you can’t be critical of is this group and what this shirt means, what playing for this team means and what we stand for. I hope the fans can see that.”
The Brentford manager, Keith Andrews, who signed a new long-term deal this week, said he would not have been happy had the VAR decisions gone against his side, but felt they were ultimately correct.
On his team’s performance, he said: “The first half we were very good, played with a lot of conviction, we attacked with real speed and venom and belief.
“The own goal just changed it a little bit and I knew we’d have to start the second half really well. I thought they’d make changes, they did, changed the system a little bit, and we didn’t deal with that particularly well. This was never going to be an easy game. If I’d been asked [beforehand] if I would accept a 4-3 victory, I would have taken it. It’s come in very crazy circumstances.”
