Keith Hackett shares his view on the Salomon Rondon incident v West Ham
We’re delighted to welcome former Premier League referee Keith Hackett as our exclusive West Ham United columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the London Stadium.
Keith Hackett believes Salomon Rondon deliberately stamped on Tomas Soucek in the West Ham game on Sunday.
With the score at 1-0 to the Hammers, Sky Sports’ cameras Rondon caught the Czech midfielder in the face with his boot in what initially appeared to be an accident
However, on closer examination, it becomes clear that the big forward makes an unnatural movement with his foot to try and catch Soucek.
Therefore, Hackett believes that Stuart Atwell should have done something.
Speaking exclusively to the West Ham Zone, he said: “I think that this was a stamping action.
“It was unnatural; it didn’t fall into line with what you’d expect.
“This wasn’t a player going to run forward and stretching his legs.
“This was a guy who seemed to be searching for where to put his foot and put it on the player.
“At that point, I thought the referee should have taken some action.
“I think I would have cautioned [him] for a reckless challenge.”
Rondon was lucky to get away with it.
This was a pretty ugly challenge that left Soucek needing stitches, and you could certainly argue that if VAR had a look, Rondon could have been sent off.
However, it didn’t work out like that for the Hammers, and Rondon remained on the pitch while Soucek was left in some considerable pain.
The only good thing is that it made no difference to the result, and Rondon didn’t pop up with a late equaliser or anything like that.
Instead, the Irons held on to secure a huge win against a strong Everton side, who have started the season very well.
However, it seems as if the Hammers just keep getting better and better with each passing game, and we are just pleased that Soucek is fine and agree with Hackett that some action should have been taken against Rondon.
In other West Ham news, Danny Murphy issues claim on Declan Rice.
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