Andrew Kitchen under fire after bizarre West Ham decision, he did Charlton a 'massive favour'

Referee Andrew Kitchen has been slammed as West Ham United lost to Charlton Athletic on Saturday.

There has been such high expectations surrounding the Hammers since their relegation from the Premier League.

They are expected to walk the Championship this season.

A clash with the Addicks at the London Stadium was a stark reminder of how difficult things are actually going to be.

Lloyd Jones and Tyreece Campbell netted for the away side as a Joel Piroe consolation goal wasn't enough for the Hammers to snatch even a point.

The defeat was deserved for the hosts, but that won't stop referee Kitchen coming under fire for one particular decision.

How inconsistency plagued Andrew Kitchen in West Ham vs Charlton

There was so much wrong with the Hammers performance in East London.

They were so desperate to score the "perfect goal" that it took away from what they were able to do on the pitch.

Charlton were excellent defensively and the claret and blue needed everything to go in their favour if they were going to get anything from the game.

That didn't come from the referee with two decisions raising eyebrows in E20.

Max Kilman was retrospectively booked just minutes into the second half as Kitchen played an advantage to allow an Addicks attack.

He didn't do the same in West Ham's favour when Dan McNamara fouled Manor Solomon and the play was immediately halted.

That came despite the ball coming in to hand Jarrod Bowen a golden chance to score.

Former Manchester United man Paul Parker couldn't quite believe the call from Kitchen.

Speaking via BBC Radio London on Saturday, he said: "What's he done that for? Sorry? What he could have done is let the game go and, like he did with Kilman, go back and book him once the plays been seen out.

"What he's done is he's booked him with the ball in the six yard box. He's done Charlton a massive favour."

West Ham didn't deserve any luck vs Charlton

In football, you make your own luck, and West Ham didn't do that on Saturday.

Their performance was generally dismal and it was summed up by Taty Castellanos.

The Argentine was involved in the major moment of the game when he missed a last-gasp spot-kick to seal a draw for the hosts.

Not only that, but he had previously been booked for diving inside the penalty area.

The Argentine needs to quickly realise that he's now playing Championship football.

That was exactly the sort of reason why the Hammers didn't deserve anything to go in their favour at the London Stadium.

Kitchen probably got the call wrong, but West Ham can hardly complain with how things worked out.