David Moyes defends the referee after West Ham beat Everton
David Moyes has defended Stuart Atwell after he awarded a corner that led to West Ham scoring against Everton.
Rafael Benitez didn’t believe it was a corner and thought that Jordan Pickford had been fouled, but Moyes disagreed and backed the referee.
Pickford and Michail Antonio both went up for the same ball, and Pickford’s punch went backwards under pressure from the Irons forward. The Hammers then scored what proved to be the winner from the corner, and Moyes was happy with the decision.
Speaking in his post-match press conference [Liverpool Echo], he said: “I genuinely don’t know the answer, but I think there is a bit more contact in the game, we are enjoying it more, and the game is a better watch than it was over the last two seasons.
“Overall, the referees are doing a much better job than they have been doing over the last couple of seasons.”
Interesting comments from Moyes.
Ultimately, you can see why Benitez is upset with what happened because that decision led to the goal.
However, we don’t really think Antonio did too much wrong, and he was simply competing for a high ball.
Yes, the pressure from Antonio forced Pickford to punch the ball behind, but the Toffees could have still defended the corner better.
In truth, you want Antonio to be challenging for that type of ball because otherwise, it is too easy for the goalkeeper just to gather the ball under no pressure.
If Antonio hadn’t applied that fair pressure, the Irons might not have won the game.
So, we totally understand why Moyes was happy and why Benitez wasn’t, but we believe that Atwell made the right decision and Antonio didn’t foul Pickford.
The 31-year-old might not have scored, but he played a big indirect role in the goal, and for that, he deserves a lot of praise and hopefully, he will get back on the goal train next week.
In other West Ham news, Garth Crooks can see an imminent exit for one West Ham star.
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