Gosling: Defender’s flying-save red card was madness.. Steve is very sorry about it

STEVE COOK’S diving save may have looked amazing, but it was “a moment of madness” which Dan Gosling felt backfired badly on Bournemouth.

Cherries’ defender Cook earned his place in Premier League notoriety for tipping Ondrej Duda’s goal-bound shot on to the post with a stunning one-handed save.

But the visitors were left to rue Cook’s rash decision as he was sent off (left) and Teemu Pukki scored his 10th of the season from the resulting penalty in the 33rd minute.

Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth tried to hit back in the second half but remain in the drop zone, as bottom-of-the-table Norwich moved to three points behind them. Midfielder Gosling, 29, was hugely frustrated and said: “He’s apologised to everyone.

“All you can do is apologise. That was what he said.

“It’s only words. But he’s really apologetic and sad, and feels like he’s let everyone down.

“It’s a moment of madness. In hindsight, you may have let it go in, because it was going in and it’s 1-0 with 11 men.

“But it’s probably instinct which, even if the ref didn’t see it, with VAR you’re never going to get away with that.”

Norwich also ended the match with 10 men after Ben Godfrey’s challenge on Callum Wilson saw referee Paul Tierney consult his pitch-side monitor before dishing out a red card in the 76th minute.

The incident was a flashpoint as Norwich keeper Tim Krul even raced up the pitch to protest in a melee which added to Gosling’s frustrations as Tierney weighed up the decision.

“It was a red card,” he said. “It was clear and obvious and should’ve been dealt with much quicker. The ref looked three or four times at the screen. One look and it should’ve been resolved within 20 seconds.

“It would’ve stopped all that really. Their goalkeeper is coming all the way up the pitch, which probably made it worse.

“One or two things got said, which was uncalled for.”

Godfrey’s dismissal set-up a tense finale as Canaries keeper Krul tipped Nathan Ake’s header over the bar.

The visitors certainly showed fight but Howe’s men have just one point from a possible 18 and Ake admits some of their stars have been unsettled over their futures.

Defender Ake, himself linked with a move to old club Chelsea, said: “This is a very difficult moment and a big test to see what we are made of.

“It is not going really well at the moment with the whole club. All of us have to get out of it.

“We have had a lot of injuries and stuff going on but only we can do it.”