Dermot Gallagher disagrees with Sue Smith live on Sky Sports amid VAR controversy in West Ham United 1-0 win v Fulham
West Ham United’s goal against Fulham was correctly given according to Dermot Gallagher, although Sue Smith admits she was “quite surprised” it stood.
The Hammers claimed a vital 1-0 win at Craven Cottage thanks to a Harrison Reed own goal in the first half, which came moments after the ball ricocheted onto Vladimir Coufal’s hands.
But the incident didn’t lead directly to the goal and the referee deemed the handball not to be deliberate, so the decision was correct according to the former Premier League referee Gallagher while speaking on Sky Sports News’ “Ref Watch” segment (10 April).
“The argument is has Coufal handled the ball?,” he said. “Well it hits his arm, there’s no doubt about that.
“Does it lead directly to the goal, no. Does it lead to a guy scoring a goal? No. What he does is he crosses and it gets crossed back out.
“It has to be deemed by the referee to be deliberate, which he didn’t, or the assistant that’s behind him. They both said play on.
“At no point did it set up immediately the goal or did he score the goal, so unfortunately [for Fulham] it’s a goal.”
Smith was asked for her opinion and admitted she was baffled that it wasn’t pulled up as a foul as it was “clearly a handball”
“I think that’s what surprised a lot of people that the assistant didn’t straight away flag to say that’s a handball,” she said. “Because you can see it was clearly a handball.
“I was quite surprised that didn’t get given.”
Never handball
The result was absolutely huge for our survival hopes, and there is no doubt we’re a bit biased, but that is never handball.
Coufal crosses the ball in and it’s blocked and ricochets back onto his hand from less than two yards away. He can’t put his arms anywhere else.
On top of that, as Gallagher said, it doesn’t lead directly to the goal and the rules are quite clear on that being definitive for a handball offense in this scenario.
We’ve seen these accidental handballs given as fouls on countless occasions this season when it has led directly to a goal, so it isn’t a case of inconsistency either. It’s just not a handball.
Overall the performance was improved and the defending was far better than it has been in recent weeks too, which is encouraging for the rest of the season knowing we haven’t forgotten how to defend.
But with Arsenal coming to town next, we will be tested. These three points were absolutely crucial to the season and our chances of survival.