Eddie Howe has said he "would be fuming" if Manchester City's penalty had been awarded against a team he was managing.
The former Bournemouth manager was speaking as a pundit during Tottenham Hotspur's 3-0 defeat to City on Saturday evening at the Etihad Stadium.
The incident Howe was commenting on came in the 20th minute as City's in-form German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan and Spurs' Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg came together in the Tottenham penalty area.
The on-field referee Paul Tierney and the VAR official Peter Bankes deemed Hojbjerg was guilty of tripping the German and awarded City a penalty from which Rodri put the home side ahead.
Former Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood, working alongside Howe for Premier League Productions, pointed out that he felt it was in fact Gundogan who committed the first foul.
"Hojbjerg kicks him in the heel but only after Gundogan stands on the back of Hojbjerg’s Achilles,” said Sherwood. “If they [VAR] have seen that then surely they have to give it [as a Tottenham free-kick].
"It’s quite clear. The first foul is from Gundogan on the back of the heel of Hojbjerg. That’s the first foul.
"The second one, yes there is contact, from the left foot onto the heel of Gundogan and he goes over. That’s what they have seen. I can understand you have missed that on-field
“But when we slow it down, like we have here and as they do with VAR. I think they have to see that. I think that’s very harsh.”
Responded to Sherwood's point, Howe said: "I totally agree. My assessment is that they haven’t given enough time to slow that down like we have. I definitely [have sympathy] for Jose. I’d be fuming at that one.”
City went on to comfortably win 3-0 with Gundogan the star of the show scoring twice in the second half, but had the league leaders not been awarded an early first-half penalty the match could have taken a different path altogether.
