Man United star accused of cheating vs West Ham as Andrew Kitchen told to review incident
Ex-PGMOL chief Keith Hackett has insisted Bryan Mbeumo should have received a yellow card for simulation in West Ham’s game against Manchester United.
West Ham drew 1-1 with Man United at Old Trafford on Thursday night, in another important Premier League point for Nuno Espirito Santo.
Soungoutou Magassa scored a late leveller for the Hammers, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka was tremendous against his former side.
West Ham are in a battle to stay up this season, and the Irons need decisions to be going for them, not against.
Hackett has now asked referee Andrew Kitchen to review the incident after what he deems was a clear yellow card.
Keith Hackett says Andrew Kitchen ‘failed’ his duties
Nuno has been slowly turning results around at West Ham, and the point will be seen as a positive one to take back to East London.
However, the game could have been taken out of the Hammers’ grasp when Mbeumo went down in the second half, claiming a penalty.
- West Ham were already trailing 1-0 when Mbeumo went down
- The Man United star fell in West Ham’s box, despite no contact being made by Jean Clair-Todibo
- Kitchen thought about the decision and let play go on, refusing to book Mbeumo
Speaking exclusively to West Ham Zone, Hackett explained exactly why Mbeumo was cheating and how the referee should have taken more control over the incident.
Hackett said: “This is a clear act of simulation in attempting to deceive the referee. This is a yellow card offence.
“I hope that referee Andrew Kitchen will review this incident and recognise that he failed to sanction this offence.”
Luckily for the Hammers, it was only a dive, but these are the fine margins that can make or break their season.
Here’s why West Ham deserved to beat Man United
Nuno made bold changes to his West Ham team that faced United, and they seemed to pay off.
The head coach opted to start Magassa in Lucas Paqueta’s absence, as Mateus Fernandes was pushed out wide.
West Ham in the second half versus Manchester United:
- West Ham had 35% possession
- Despite this, the Irons had the same number of shots on target inside the box as United
- Jarrod Bowen almost set up the winner
The Hammers knew they would have to hurt United on the counterattack if they were to get anything from the game, and that’s what they did.
West Ham got the deserved equaliser in the 83rd minute, shortly before Jarrod Bowen fizzed a ball across the face of United’s goal which just needed a touch into an empty net.
Small details again have cost West Ham another two points, but Nuno can still be proud of the draw.
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