Aaron Cresswell was slapped in West Ham v Tottenham, Michail Antonio reveals all
West Ham United’s game against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend was a fiery affair and there was one flashpoint that got plenty of people talking.
In the second half, Hammers defender kicked the ball in the direction of Spurs attacker Heung-Min Son, needlessly perhaps, and the ball hit the South Korean on the thigh.
He then proceeded to theatrically fall to the floor causing a scuffle between the two sets of players before supporters tried to run onto the pitch moments later.
Irons striker Michail Antonio has revealed that there was a key incident among the fracas that the referee should have looked at.
“I don’t know if people have seen it. But, one of our players got slapped in the face. And there wasn’t a decision made,” Antonio said on the BBC’s Footballers Football Podcast.
“Kurt was kicking the ball out for them to take a corner and he’s hit Son in the calf with the ball. Reguilon has run over to Kurt angry. Cress (Cresswell) has stepped in front of him to push him away and he’s slapped Cress in the face.
“So, I have gone ‘there has to be a decision made here’. I have said to the ref ‘somebody has been slapped in the face. Please can you check it’? He’s gone ‘don’t worry, I’ll deal with it blah, blah’. Then the fan has run on.
“There were four or five things for him to think about, so his mind was dealing with a lot of stuff. Then, he goes ‘everything has been checked’. I was like ‘there is no way it has been checked’. – Cress had a red mark across his face. I was shocked.”
Retrospective
We can’t blame the on-field referee for missing this really given the amount of chaos that was going on at the time and even VAR had plenty to consider at the time too.
But the beauty of technology is that we can look back at certain incidents long after they have occurred and still give out the correct punishment.
If West Ham believe there is genuine reason that a red card could and should have been handed out, and there is video evidence of it, then they have to ask the FA to look at it.
It might not affect their upcoming games but it could impact their push for European places with Spurs likely to lose the Spaniard for three games if he were to be found guilty of violent conduct.
It seems to be a risk-free thing to do as they would only be asking the FA to take a look at the incident, rather than demanding a punishment is handed out.
In other West Ham news, a second loan deal for this Irons ace is wanted after some impressive performances.
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