Jeff Stelling hits out at West Ham v Manchester United controversy live on air
Jeff Stelling insists that West Ham should not have been given their penalty against Manchester United on 27 October.
Speaking on talkSPORT with Dean Saunders (28 October, 6:24am), Stelling agreed that the decision leading to Jarrod Bowen’s late winner in the Irons’ 2-1 victory was incorrect.
Matthijs de Ligt’s collision with Danny Ings initially wasn’t penalised by David Coote, but VAR official Michael Oliver intervened, leading to the penalty being given.
Saunders said: “What’s De Ligt supposed to do there? Danny Ings is coming at him in the box – is he supposed to get out of the way and say ‘go on’ – it’s contact sport.
“It’s never a penalty in my book. I don’t know about you, Jeff?”
Stelling replied: “Oh, it’s not a penalty. VAR’s meant to get involved for clear and obvious mistakes, and it was not a clear and obvious mistake.
“(David Coote) needed to have a bit of bottle and stick by his own decision – Michael Oliver should have kept his nose out because it wasn’t clear and obvious.”
West Ham get back to winning ways in controversial circumstances
While Julen Lopetegui will be keen to praise his team for turning things around in the second half, the Spaniard could have had few complaints if the dramatic match had ended 1-1 in East London.
The Hammers may have broken the deadlock midway through the second half thanks to Crysencio Summerville, but Lopetegui’s side arguably should have been behind well before that moment.
Under the pump for much of a one-sided first half, Lopetegui’s three half-time changes – including bringing on Summerville – was inarguably the decision which spun the game on its head.
Given the visitors’ sheer domination in the first half, it was amazing to get some luck for the last-gasp winner to ease pressure on Lopetegui.
It is time to move on now, with no point in continually hitting out at decisions in the Premier League that happen every single week, usually against the Irons.
It’s a massive three points, and they must be built on now.
In other West Ham news, Lopetegui overruled Tim Steidten to sign one of the Irons’ biggest underperformers in the summer.
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