Jason Cundy: West Ham United opener against Bournemouth could have gone either way
Jason Cundy has defended the decision to allow Kurt Zouma’s opening goal for West Ham United to stand in the 2-0 win over Bournemouth.
Zouma headed David Moyes’ men into the lead on the stroke of half time, however, Thilo Kehrer appeared to handle the ball in the build-up to the goal.
Talking on talkSPORT (24 October), Cundy suggested that because Kehrer’s involvement did not result directly in a goal, the officials were right to allow Zouma’s striker to stand.
“I can see both sides clearly here, if they had not given that goal, I could see exactly why they didn’t give it,” he said.
“But because the way the law is because the ball hasn’t ended up directly in the back of the net from him, I can see why under the current law, why the goal was given.”
Either way
All Premier League fans are asking for is a little bit more consistency when it comes to decisions so there is a fair playing field across the board. Before the days of VAR, the German’s involvement would have gone unnoticed.
However, with every detail now being highlighted, it’s understandable why Bournemouth will be a little aggrieved to see the Hammers’ opening goal stand. His hands are close to his body, so there is little he can do, but the ball does travel quite a long way off his arm as a result.
There simply has to be more clarity around what is and what isn’t handball in the modern game. We certainly don’t want it getting to a point where players are looking to chip the ball onto opponents’ arms in order to win a penalty.
Even West Ham being awarded a penalty at the end of the game was somewhat contentious, with Ally McCoist brandishing the decision as “scandalous”.
The introduction of VAR means there has to be clear and concise guidelines for officials to follow when making big calls because at the moment we are getting different outcomes week in and week out.