Dion Dublin admits West Ham United lucky to get away with Thilo Kehrer handball v Tottenham
Match of the Day 2 pundit Dion Dublin believes West Ham United were lucky that Thilo Kehrer’s handball wasn’t given as a penalty against Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday (20 February).
For the second week running, the Hammers were involved in some VAR controversy, as the ball hit the German’s left hand as he dropped it to try and regain balance when defending against Spurs attacker Richarlison.
Michael Oliver refused to point to the spot, and after a VAR check, the play was waved on, much to the anger of the home support within the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Speaking after West Ham’s 2-0 loss on Match of the Day 2 (19 February, 39:00), Dublin broke down the sequence of events in the first-half incident and admitted he thought the spot kick should have been awarded to Spurs.
“Yes, I think they should have done. I think it’s a handball,” he said:
“You can go round and round and round about what should be given, is he falling over, is he not falling over, does he mean it, is he making the body bigger? From that angle, it’s a handball.
“The ball hits his hand, and to me, it’s a penalty.”
Rinse and repeat
If there wasn’t enough controversy during the London derby last weekend against Chelsea with Tomas Soucek’s handball, Kehrer certainly added fuel to the fire at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday with another blatant-looking handball.
Although the contact was made from close quarters, and he was most likely just trying to regain his balance by throwing his hand to the floor, the ball clearly hit his hand, and therefore, it probably should have been given as a penalty.
If the sequence had taken place in the Spurs box, West Ham United fans would certainly have felt aggrieved at the decision by Michael Oliver.
The one promising thing about the way the decision was made was the communication by experienced referee Oliver about why the decision had been made and the reasons he didn’t award the spot-kick. If more referees were to explain to the players why a penalty is or isn’t given, it wouldn’t lead to half the uproar that has been surfacing in the Premier League this season.