West Ham United: Perry Groves can’t believe Southampton goal was allowed to stand
Perry Groves cannot believe Romain Perraud’s first-half strike for Southampton against West Ham United was allowed to stand.
The 25-year-old fired past Lukasz Fabianski in the 20th minute to give the Saints the lead, however, Jarrod Bowen appeared to be blocked by referee Peter Bankes in the build-up to the goal.
Groves was less than impressed with the official and felt he should’ve stopped the game before the home side took the lead.
Talking on talkSPORT [16 October], Groves said: “David Moyes will be absolutely fuming. He’s stopped Jarrod Bowen from challenging Perraud on the edge and normally the referee would blow the whistle straight away.
“He decided to allow play to continue and Perraud has got it on his left foot and given Fabianski no chance but I cannot believe that he hasn’t blown his whistle.”
Awful decision
The decision by Bankes not to stop the game was a bizarre one. In the modern game referees nearly always stop proceedings whenever they come in contact with a player or the ball.
Bowen was in a good position to track back and tackle the Southampton man and there’s a good chance he would’ve prevented the goal had the official not been in the way. Moyes will undoubtedly be seething with the official for his part in the stalemate on the South Coast.
After going one down to Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side the Hammers will be grateful to take a point away from St Mary’s and continue their good recent form. This was a game that the Irons would’ve lost in the early part of the season so there are positives to take.
Furthermore, West Ham have shown their ability to come back from losing positions in recent weeks after turning around a deficit against Fulham in their last fixture.