Keith Hackett shares verdict on Tomas Soucek disallowed goal for West Ham v Leeds
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 has shared that it was the right decision to disallow Tomas Soucek’s goal for West Ham United against Leeds.
Michail Antonio caught Illan Meslier with a high arm, and the foul wasn’t given at first before VAR intervened and the striker was cautioned.
Hackett believes Kevin Friend should have seen the incident without the use of technology, as it was a clear foul.
Speaking exclusively to West Ham Zone, Hackett said, “This was a foul.
“I’ll tell you what surprised me with this one, there absolutely no question that is a foul, I would have liked the referee to have seen that without the use of VAR.
“He didn’t. I think this is exactly what VAR is required to do. In the process, the referee must ensure that the goalkeeper is okay.“
What was Friend doing?
If we are being honest, it was quite clear that it was a foul by Antonio on Meslier in the goalmouth.
What makes this a dreadful piece of officiating is that Friend clearly didn’t see the incident, but still went on to book the striker.
The standard of officiating appears to be going downhill very quickly in the Premier League after a good initial start this season.
Friend got numerous decisions wrong at Elland Road, and if we hadn’t have grabbed that last-minute winner, questions will have been asked more firmly.
Thankfully, Antonio made amends and this incident will simply fly under the carpet after this debate, but officiating has to improve and quickly.
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