Rio Ferdinand and Joe Cole go berserk over West Ham United controversy in draw v Sheffield United
Rio Ferdinand and Joe Cole were furious that Jarrod Bowen wasn’t handed an injury-time penalty for West Ham against Sheffield United on Sunday (21 January).
Speaking after the game on TNT Sports (04:22pm), Ferdinand said he didn’t know why VAR didn’t take a look at the incident as it was a “stonewall penalty” against Anel Ahmedhodzic, who had his hands all over the England international.
Cole was in disbelief that the referee instead gave a free-kick against the 27-year-old winger, adding that it was a “rugby tackle” by the Blades defender in the 2-2 draw at Bramall Lane.
“Absolutely penalty,” said Cole. “In the last minute of the game, you’ve got to keep your composure. He realises at that moment and the panic kicks in, and he put his arms on him. He’s not looking at the ball, his arms are all over Bowen, I can’t see how they’ve not looked at that.”
“He’s not looking at the ball, he’s looking at Bowen,” added Ferdinand. “He’s not even looking at Bowen, he’s got his hands on him, his back is to play. We can see his number when the balls coming from the opposite side. I don’t know how they haven’t looked at that and gone ‘that’s a stonewall penalty for me’.”
“It was Six Nations, wasn’t it?” said Cole. “That’s a rugby tackle. The referee has made three massive decisions that have lit this place up, the atmosphere was white hot and he probably just lost his nerve a little bit maybe at the time. You need to be a brave referee in situations like that and just referee the game.”
Infuriating
It’s absolutely infuriating that the officials got this incident so wrong after the referee bizarrely gave a free-kick against Bowen for no apparent reason.
It’s unclear whether VAR took much of a look at the replays, but if they had, there is no way they could say it wasn’t a penalty as Ahmedhodzic made no intent to play the ball before hauling the forward to the ground.
It came just minutes after the referee once again got it wrong to award a spot-kick against Alphonse Areola for a foul on Oli McBurnie, who clearly elbowed the keeper in the face.
While it could purely sound like sour grapes, there is no way that anyone can say after a few looks at the incident that the officials didn’t get it wrong.
There is no doubt that Sheffield United deserved something from the game, but it’s frustrating that they managed to earn a point based on the ineptitude of the officials.
In other West Ham news, Dharmesh Sheth has shared the transfer stance of a player the Hammers want to sign.
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