BBC journalist points finger at Aaron Cresswell for ‘senseless’ handball in West Ham v Leicester
Aaron Cresswell threw away the control that West Ham had over the game against Leicester City with his handball before half-time, says Phil McNulty.
The English full-back conceded a crucial penalty just before half time from which Youri Tielemans scored the equalising goal.
He inexplicably lifted his elbow to the ball as it came in from a corner, giving the home side the perfect way back into the game at a time when their own fans were getting on top of them.
The Hammers capitulated for the majority of the second half thereafter, and only managed to rescue a point with Craig Dawson’s injury-time goal that survived a VAR check for handball itself.
On the BBC liveblog for the match, Chief Football Writer McNulty said: “West Ham manager David Moyes will be furious about that.
“Senseless penalty given away just on half time when his team had things pretty much under control.
“How Leicester needed that – but they have improved after a very uncertain start.”
Lucky escape
The penalty was the turning point that looked to have thrown away all three points at the King Power Stadium.
A wonderful goal from Jarrod Bowen and assist from Issa Diop had put the Irons on top early, and although they didn’t make the most of their advantage, they were not unduly threatened by Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Following a terrible run of form the home side were under pressure and their fans had started to show their displeasure.
The longer they were behind, the more that would have grown, and Moyes would have had a team-talk based on capitalising ready for the break.
As it was however, the opportunity for him to deliver it never came as the 32-year-old’s handball gifted Leicester an opportunity to relieve the pressure.
The lift the Foxes took from it was evident from the way they overran the visitors for the majority of the second half, with Cresswell and his teammate from the opposite side Vladimir Coufal having terrible periods, as the midfield went missing.
Ricardo Pereira put Leicester ahead, and they should have been further ahead considering their dominance.
Dawson found himself up front in desperate search of an equaliser, and surprisingly managed to find one when he bundled the ball in off his shoulder from a 90th-minute corner.
In other West Ham news, there were three 4/10 flops in the player ratings from today’s game.