Exclusive: Ex-PGMOL chief reacts to Kudus controversy in West Ham win v Leicester
Robbie Savage believed there was a hint of controversy about West Ham’s second goal in their 2-0 win over Leicester at the London Stadium on Thursday night.
After Tomas Soucek gave the Irons the lead in the 21st minute, Jannik Vestergaard’s own goal doubled the home side’s lead just before half time after he deflected in Jarrod Bowen‘s shot.
Bowen’s effort came about after a James Ward-Prowse corner caused chaos in the Leicester penalty area.
However, according to Savage, West Ham should not have even had that corner kick.
Mohammed Kudus kick causes controversy v Leicester
Anthony Taylor awarded West Ham the corner kick that led to Vestergaard’s own goal after a wayward cross into the box by Mohammed Kudus.
After taking a throw-in, Kudus managed to fire an over-hit cross into the box, which Taylor and his assistant deemed to have touched the leg of Leicester’s Bilal El Khannouss.
Former PGMOL general manager Keith Hackett examined the footage of the controversial incident and found it hard to find a reason to disagree with Taylor’s on-field decision, saying that he would have communicated well with his assistant to make the call.
| West Ham | Stats | Leicester |
| 57.8% | Possession | 42.2% |
| 1.33 | xG | 0.38 |
| 8 (2) | Shots (on target) | 10 (2) |
| 19 | Touches inside opp. box | 10 |
| 12 | Fouls | 6 |
| 3 | Corners | 3 |
“The assistant is on the touchline and is closer to the incident than the referee,” Hackett told West Ham Zone.
“It is the assistant, through the comms system, who will have judged that there was contact of the ball before it goes out of play.
“The referee and his assistant are at one on the decision and on this occasion, without more evidence, I would suggest that the correct decision was made.”
VAR won’t look at West Ham second goal
For all the meddling it does in the game, VAR won’t overrule a referee for awarding a corner or a goal kick when it comes to incidents like this.
If VAR started micro-examining every aspect of the game, West Ham would still be playing Leicester now on Friday morning.
It didn’t seem like there was much of a protest from Leicester when the corner was given with Savage being one of the few to suggest Taylor made the wrong call.