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Dean Ashton shocked at incredible West Ham United vs Chelsea events amid 'revenge' claim live on talkSPORT
Dean Ashton couldn’t believe that West Ham did not concede a late penalty against Chelsea at the London Stadium while a pundit on talkSPORT.
Tomas Soucek wasn’t penalised for handball late in the game which finished even at 1-1 on Saturday (11 February), and while Ashton was amazed at how, Sam Matterface alongside him suggested it was revenged for the previous meeting between the two London rivals.
Maxwel Cornet appeared to have stolen a point at Stamford Bridge on 3 September, before a late VAR review saw Jarrod Bowen penalised for a supposed foul on Edouard Mendy and the goal ruled out, so another amazing decision the other way this time may have evened things up.
Speaking live on talkSPORT during the game, the former Hammers striker said: “It’s absolutely a handball and Soucek knows what he’s doing. It’s incredible really.
“I wonder what David Moyes will say about that, because Soucek has basically saved it.
“It’s clever from Soucek, as he fell to the floor he handled it and then put his hand down.”
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Sam Matterface on commentary responded: “Maybe that’s revenge for West Ham.”
Escape
Taking the game as a whole, the Hammers were probably good value for a point, and wouldn’t have been embarrassed to steal the win if Soucek’s late goal hadn’t been ruled out for offside on Declan Rice.
But the start and the finish could easily have seen the game lost, either from the spot when Conor Gallagher’s shot was blocked by the Czech midfielder, or by the scoreline being beyond rescue had Joao Felix and Kai Havertz not both been flagged when they found the net early.
Officiating decisions appear to many fans to be getting less and less explainable since the introduction of VAR, since they tie themselves in knots over-analysing situations that look pretty clear to most people watching.
The majority of viewers would have seen nothing wrong with Cornet’s goal in September, just as most expected a penalty in Stratford this weekend, but neither happened so they perhaps cancel each other out.
The upshot is that it was another point on the board for David Moyes and his side, and a performance that showed enough resilience to not put the Scot under more sustained pressure.
But sooner or later he is going to need some wins, since both Everton and Leeds can leapfrog the Irons if they win their games on Monday and Sunday respectively.