West Ham: David Moyes fires jibe at Howard Webb after Tomas Soucek controversy v Aston Villa
West Ham United manager David Moyes has fired a jibe at Howard Webb following a controversial call in the Hammers’ Premier League draw with Aston Villa.
The Irons picked up a valuable point at the London Stadium on Sunday (17 March) as Michail Antonio’s first-half header was cancelled out by Nicolo Zaniolo before Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek thought they had found a late winner.
But the last-minute strike was ruled out after a lengthy VAR check for handball and while Moyes said he wouldn’t discuss the decisions, he was left enraged by the late call and took aim at PGMOL chief Webb after the full-time whistle.
As quoted by The Mirror (17 March) he said: “I’ve got nothing to say on the VAR decisions. You can contact Howard [Webb] yourselves and get the results. Burnley last week, Freiburg last week, and two today. Four handballs this week that didn’t go for us.
“You’ve got VAR so if VAR thinks it’s right they’ve got a chance to look at things so they must be right. I think football people see things differently. We think they are goals but VAR are the ones who decide, not us.”
Will David Moyes be under more sack pressure at West Ham United?
West Ham do seem to have had some terrible luck in recent weeks and months when it comes to refereeing decisions and the Hammers are certainly due for one or two calls to finally go their way.
However, Sunday’s goal wasn’t as clear-cut as Moyes had suggested. The ball did clearly strike Soucek’s hand but it is no longer clear whether that should immediately rule out a strike, especially when Bowen got the last touch.
Had that strike been given against the Hammers, Moyes would have likely been just as enraged to have conceded in such controversial circumstance, but Sunday’s decision was the latest in a long string of poor decisions.
Hopefully, the Irons will get the rub of the green following the March international break and continue to climb up the Premier League table and boost their hopes of European football, otherwise, Moyes could be back under pressure.
In other West Ham news, Bowen has made a new admission involving both Ollie Watkins and Manchester City star Erling Haaland
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