Jermaine Jenas ‘in shock’ as Tomas Soucek gets away with handball in West Ham United draw v Chelsea
Jermaine Jenas was stunned by the VAR decision not to award handball against Tomas Soucek as West Ham held Chelsea to a 1-1 draw on Saturday (11 February).
With the game tied up at 1-1 in the final minutes, the visitors had a big claim for a penalty turned down when Conor Gallagher’s strike hit Soucek on the arm as he went to ground to block the ball.
Reacting live on BT Sport during the game in commentary (11 February, 14:23), Jenas was sure that a penalty should have been given and was disgusted when it wasn’t.
“That looks like handball to me,” he said. “That’s handball. It’s handball all day long.”
Ex-Premier League referee Peter Walton was also asked for his opinion, and admitted that the Hammers had got away with it.
“As Soucek goes down there you can clearly see that his arm goes down. Is his arm there to prevent the fall or is it there to block the ball?
“My opinion, if it hasn’t been given is that he’s got away with one because I think that’s a penalty kick.
Jenas then added to his initial comments upon hearing that a penalty hadn’t been given.
“I’m in shock,” he said. “I can’t believe that’s not been given.
“You can land on the ground without using your arms if you need to, do you know what I mean? He knows what he’s doing there.
“He even has a bit of a look there Soucek. That’s handball. It’s a shot on target, going towards goal, it’s the wrong decision in my opinion.”
Too much
If the decision had been given against West Ham then it certainly would have been hard to argue with, but Jenas’ reaction is very over the top.
The rules clearly state that if the ball strikes a defenders arm while he is trying to break his fall then it isn’t handball, and that is what Soucek is doing.
The replays suggest that he may have stuck his arm out slightly to make contact with the ball, but that’s an entirely subjective call and the head of VAR Neil Swarbrick clearly felt it wasn’t a penalty.
These decisions tend to balance themselves out over the course of a season, and if you cast your mind back to Stamford Bridge when Maxwel Cornet had a goal disallowed for absolutely nothing, it’s fair to say that we’re even now.
The point was fair for how the game went, and now both teams can stop thinking about each other until next season.