Gary O’Neil slams ‘scandalous’ moment amid West Ham United controversy v Wolves
Gary O’Neil delivered a scathing review of the decision to disallow a late Wolves equaliser as West Ham claimed a 2-1 victory on Saturday (6 April).
Pablo Sarabia’s first-half penalty gave O’Neil’s side the lead heading into half-time, with Lucas Paqueta finally scoring his own spot-kick on 72 minutes before James Ward-Prowse scored directly from a corner.
Max Kilman thought he had saved a point for his side at Molineux Stadium, towering high to head home from a corner nine minutes into added time, only for VAR to rule the goal out for an offside decision against Tawanda Chirewa.
Speaking after the 2-1 loss on Saturday (6 April, 5:47pm), Sky Sports captured O’Neil’s irate reaction: “From my view, from David Moyes’ view, from [Lukasz] Fabianski’s view, it’s a scandalous decision, terrible.
“I don’t understand it. I can’t think of an explanation. It’s one of the worst decisions I’ve ever witnessed.”
When asked whether he had received an explanation from referee Tony Harrington, he replied: “No. I wasn’t calm enough to go into the room to receive one. He hasn’t really got one. I don’t know where they’re at with it, but any explanation doesn’t help us.
“Terrible decision. I’ll tell you why it’s a terrible decision. The only way he can be offside is if he impacts the way the goalkeeper moves or if the goalkeeper’s vision is impacted, which it isn’t.
“If you see the side-on view, Fabianski can clearly see the ball over Tawanda’s head, so it’s a terrible decision.”
West Ham United escape late scare in precious victory v Wolves
Of course, the match is now going to be clouded by the controversy surrounding the disallowed goal. However, David Moyes will be delighted to have claimed all three points in the end.
The Hammers were handed quite a lot of luck, with Ward-Prowse scoring directly from the corner, but that is exactly what they need if they are to end the season successfully.
With the three points, the London side move equal on points with Manchester United, who currently occupy sixth place in the Premier League.
And with a difficult Europa League match against Bayer Leverkusen on the horizon, it was vital that the Hammers could head into it with as much positivity and confidence as possible.
Jarrod Bowen’s injury will be massively worrying, and until an update emerges, fans will be thinking worst-case scenario about their star-studded goalscorer, especially with Leverkusen’s formidable record this season.
Whether anyone agrees with O’Neil or not, West Ham are able to walk away from Molineux Stadium with all three points, an extremely important result with just six games of the Premier League campaign remaining.
In other West Ham news, the Irons are in the hunt to sign a “devastating” breakout attacking talent.
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