Keith Hackett shares verdict on Soucek and Wan-Bissaka incident in West Ham loss v Manchester United
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.
Ex-Premier League referee Keith Hackett suggests West Ham were unfortunate not to be awarded another penalty against Manchester United on Sunday.
The Irons suffered late heartache at the London Stadium yesterday as the Red Devils stole three points at the death.
Jesse Lingard returned to haunt his former loan club with a sweetly-struck 89th-minute winner, and there was enough time for Mark Noble to come on and see a penalty saved.
Hackett, however, believes the Irons may have had a case for a penalty earlier in the second half when Tomas Soucek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka tumbled in the Red Devils penalty area.
Wan-Bissaka appeared to go through Soucek, without getting the ball, but referee Martin Atkinson awarded a free-kick to the away side.
There were questions over whether a West Ham player was offside in the build up, but the linesman didn’t raise his flag, and Atkinson appeared to signal he blew for a foul on the Manchester United full-back.
Speaking to West Ham Zone after re-watching the incident, Hackett said: “Why’s he [Wan-Bissaka] done that?
“That’s a good shout for a penalty kick. I just thought Martin Atkinson didn’t have the best of games, it’s a Manchester United player who has gone down on his opponent and he could have comfortably awarded a penalty kick in that situation.
“It might have been deemed harsh but it’s a careless challenge. [It’s] Absolutely not [a free-kick in the opposite direction].
“Bizarre.”
In other West Ham news, Charlie Nicholas claims David Moyes is livid after this recent Irons incident.
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