Premier League release statement after Taty Castellanos incident in West Ham win vs Fulham
Matt Donohue overturned his original penalty decision at the start of the second half as West Ham United beat Fulham 1-0 on Wednesday.
In the 48th minute at Craven Cottage on 4 March, the on-field official awarded a spot kick to the hosts after Taty Castellanos was deemed to have fouled Tom Cairney inside the box.
However, after a VAR review, Donohue clearly saw that it was the Cottagers’ midfielder who kicked the back of the striker’s foot and the decision was subsequently changed.
It was evident from the footage that the East London outfit’s attacker made no challenge for the ball and was caught by Cairney in his attempt to get a shot off.
Matt Donohue has nightmare in Fulham vs West Ham United
Matt Donahue was the on-field official as the Hammers faced Fulham and there were some questionable decisions in the game.
Alex Iwobi seemed to handle the ball in the 16th minute while clearing a corner, but even after a VAR check, it wasn’t deemed serious enough for a penalty.
Before the end of the first half, the referee gave the Cottagers a free-kick right on the edge of the box after Mateus Fernandes was penalised for an apparent foul on Josh King, but on closer inspection, it was the 19-year-old who kicked the Hammers’ midfielder.
Right after the break, Donahue awarded the home side a penalty, but after a VAR review, Castellanos was the one who was kicked by Cairney inside the box.
Immediately after the incident, the Premier League Match Centre shared on X, “After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of penalty to Fulham. Referee announcement: ‘After review, Fulham 10 kicks the back of West Ham 11. Therefore, my final decision is a free-kick to West Ham’.”
The officials didn’t have their best game, but Nuno certainly won’t care as Crysencio Summerville’s goal in the 65th minute secured the three points in SW6.
Nuno Espirito Santo deserves credit for player transformation at London Stadium
Mads Hermanses seems like the player the Hammers paid around £20million to Leicester City for last summer.
After a poor start to the campaign, the Denmark international was dropped to the bench, with Alphonse Areola cementing his place as the number one for several months.
The 25-year-old has returned to the fold in recent matches and has rarely put a foot wrong, something Nuno deserves a lot of credit for.
If the Irons have any chance of avoiding Premier League relegation this season, then they’ll need to be defensively solid in the final stretch of the campaign.
The East London outfit have what it take to secure their top-flight status and the Portuguese manager has brought faith back in E20.
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