Keith Hacket believes Andre Marriner was right not to award West Ham penalty v Brighton
We’re delighted to welcome former Premier League referee Keith Hackett as our exclusive West Ham United columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the London Stadium.
Keith Hackett believes Andre Marriner was right not to award West Ham a late penalty against Brighton but he questioned the positioning of the referee.
The incident occurred with the score at 1-1, when Jesse Lingard’s pass to Michail Antonio was blocked by Brighton’s Adam Webster.
The ball appeared to strike his arm but Hackett says the defender tried to move his arm out of the way, not make his body bigger – so Marriner was right to wave play on.
“It’s not a penalty, the player has done everything possible to withdraw his arm,” Hackett told West Ham Zone.
“The hand and arm are not moving towards the ball. And he’s not made his body wider, therefore no penalty kick.
“Great decision, great decision by Andre Marriner, who’s miles from play. A long way behind play.
“It’s not a penalty kick. And the reason it’s not a penalty kick is the player has not made his body shape larger.”
Can’t blame the officials
As much as we would rather it was not true, Hackett is correct in his judgement of the incident.
The ball hit Webster on the arm but it appeared to flick up off his knee [Match of the Day], so it is definitely not a penalty.
West Ham would have been very lucky if it was given, as we did not deserve the penalty and did not deserve to win.
Brighton frustrated us, as is typical, and our lacklustre attack let us down on this occasion, as did a momentary lapse in concentration at the back for their goal.
But underlying that performance was fatigue and a lack of options for David Moyes to change things up.
That ultimately comes down to a lack of investment in the squad, both in January and last summer.
We have to change that in the upcoming transfer window by first signing Lingard and adding more quality to attack.
Then we might finally beat Brighton.
In other West Ham news, MOTD pundit slams West Ham star who lost all bearings in 1-1 v Brighton.
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