Mikel Arteta hits out over controversial incident in West Ham United win v Arsenal as Sky Sports footage emerges
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta insists West Ham would have had their opening goal ruled out in Wednesday’s (1 November) 3-1 win if VAR was in operation.
Ben White headed Jarrod Bowen’s corner past his own goalkeeper with 16 minutes played of the EFL Cup last-16 tie at London Stadium, before Mohammed Kudus and Bowen himself added to the Hammers’ tally.
Footage shared by Sky Sports Football on Twitter [1 November] showed Tomas Soucek had a hold of Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale’s shirt, but referee Simon Hooper and his officials did not rule the goal out.
As reported by ESPN journalist James Olley on Twitter [1 November], Arteta said he felt “for sure” the goal would have been chalked off had VAR been used.
Good value
In fairness, United got a bit fortunate that the opening goal was awarded. Soucek had a hold of Ramsdale’s shirt and, even if that was not enough to entirely stop the keeper moving off the spot, it did play a part.
Had there been a video assistant referee watching on, as is the case week in, week out in the Premier League, there is no doubt it would have been ruled out.
That said, there can be no denying that West Ham were the better side on the day and were good value for their place in the quarter-final of the competition.
It was a brilliant team display from the Hammers, belying their form over the past month or so, which had seen some pressure grow on manager David Moyes.
Thanks to some lenient refereeing, United saw off London rivals Arsenal and now have a platform to kick on and get their league form back on track.
In other West Ham news, a journalist has described a decision made by Moyes recently as a “travesty”.