West Ham United v Leicester decision wrong as officials and VAR called out
West Ham United were wrongly disallowed a goal in their 3-1 defeat against Leicester on Tuesday, Keith Hackett has said.
Tomas Soucek was adjudged to have fouled Mads Hermansen by Josh Smith and VAR at the King Power on 3 December, despite minimal contact as Crysencio Summerville’s hack ended up in the net.
Ex-PGMOL chief and former FIFA referee, Hackett, admitted that the goal should have stood and the goalkeeper shouldn’t have been saved for his poor attempt to clear the ball.
Speaking exclusively to West Ham Zone, he said: “Frankly, I have witnessed several similar incidents going unpunished and the goal allowed to stand.
“This goal should have been allowed the goalkeeper needed to be much stronger going for the ball.
West Ham United incident wrong v Leicester
“Poor goalkeeping saves by the interference of the match official.”
Under immense pressure already, the last thing Julen Lopetegui needed was the officials turning against him too in this weak call.
The Spaniard is said to be on the brink of the sack now, with Edin Terzic considered a favoured option within the London Stadium boardroom [The Sun].
Despite decisions like the above potentially helping Lopetegui’s cause to get another shot against Wolves, the performances of his players left too much to be desired.
Tim Sherwood labelled the defending as “absolutely disgusting” and things like that cannot be hidden behind the VAR or the officials, unfortunately for them.
Change is surely coming.
In other West Ham news, Graham Potter is another manager in position to replace Lopetegui.
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