Mark Clattenburg: It was wrong to award Arsenal penalty and send Coufal off v West Ham
Mark Clattenburg has slammed the officials for awarding Arsenal a penalty and sending Vladimir Coufal off during last night’s game against West Ham.
The Hammers suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday (15 December), and they had to play the final 24 minutes with one man down after the Czech Republic right-back was shown his marching orders.
However, Clattenburg insists in his Daily Mail column that Anthony Taylor and VAR Peter Bankes got the call wrong and should have never awarded the penalty either as the West Ham man got the ball while tackling Alexandre Lacazette.
The former Premier League referee said: “West Ham’s Vladimir Coufal won the ball from Alexandre Lacazette.
“It was a genuine attempt and a good challenge. How could that be a penalty?
“Was this Bankes, who is an inexperienced VAR, worried about upsetting Taylor, one of the more experienced referees in the group?
“Taylor got it wrong and the error was compounded by VAR not intervening to correct it.
“It was a clear and obvious error, that is why VAR exists. I cannot believe Bankes did not advise Taylor to take a look.”
Costly?
West Ham were already a goal down before the 66th-minute as Gabriel Martinelli had put the hosts ahead just three minutes after play restarted.
While Lukasz Fabianski saved Lacazette’s effort from the spot, it cannot be denied that playing for almost 30 minutes with a man down affected the Irons’ chances of getting a result.
Emile Smith-Rowe doubled his side’s advantage with three minutes left on the clock, and the Hammers slipped down to fifth in the table as a result.
West Ham were not particularly brilliant against Arsenal, especially in the second-half, but they would have fancied their chances of getting something from the game had Coufal remained on the pitch.
The job of the VAR is to assist the ref make the correct decisions when errors have been made, but Bankes failed to do that, and it proved costly in the end.
David Moyes’ side should not hesitate to lodge a complaint with the authorities as such key refereeing moments can determine the outcome of their campaign.
In other West Ham news, an amazing attacker is making personal arrangements for Hammers switch in January.
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