Ian Wright and Roy Keane slam 'pathetic' decision which marred FA Cup tie
Bournemouth star Milos Kerkez missed the Cherries' FA Cup quarter-final match against Manchester City through suspension, but ITV pundits Ian Wright and Roy Keane felt
Ian Wright and Roy Keane have branded Milos Kerkez's suspension for Bournemouth's FA Cup quarter-final clash against Manchester City "pathetic". Kerkez was booked in Bournemouth's win over Wolves in the previous round after a clash with Matheus Cunha.
Cunha was handed a four-match ban and a £50,000 fine after kicking out at Kerkez and headbutting him. The incident earned Cunha a red card, while Kerkez was shown a yellow for his part in the clash.
And due to the left-back also getting booked in Bournemouth's fourth round win over Everton, he was suspended for the game against City as Andoni Iraola handed 20-year-old Julio Soler his second start for the club.
However, both Wright and Keane felt Kerkez did not deserve his suspension. "Wow, that is tough," Wright told ITV after seeing a replay of the clash. "All he's trying to do is get the ball."
READ MORE: FA Cup semi-final draw completed as five clubs discover Wembley tiesREAD MORE: Rio Ferdinand could LEAVE TNT Sports at end of season as Man Utd legend eyes huge moveKeane then added: "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 continued: "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 was also fuming with the decision, admitting he was "very disappointed" with the referee in his post-match press conference. "The consequences for Cunha is okay, they are out of the cup," Iraola said.
"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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