West Ham star fumes after Arsenal VAR drama as key question asked | OneFootball

Relegation-threatened Hammers furious with decision to rule out Callum Wilson’s stoppage-time equaliser against leaders Arsenal

Jarrod Bowen has lamented a lack of consistency in officiating in the Premier League after West Ham’s dramatic defeat by leaders Arsenal.

The Hammers went down 1-0 in Sunday’s crunch clash at the London Stadium that is likely to have huge ramifications at both ends of the table, with Leandro Trossard netting the only goal of the game seven minutes from time after his shot deflected in off Tomas Soucek.

West Ham, who had been denied by a fantastic save from David Raya to thwart Mateus Fernandes shortly before that goal, looked to have levelled in the fifth minute of stoppage time during a frantic finish to the game, only for Callum Wilson’s effort to be controversially disallowed for a foul on Raya by Pablo.

The decision was made by referee Chris Kavanagh after he was sent to the pitchside monitor to watch multiple replays of the incident after a VAR review led by Darren England that took several minutes to complete in massively tense scenes.

Gary Neville described the call as the biggest moment in the history of VAR in the Premier League, one he believes was ultimately correct.

But West Ham and manager Nuno Espirito Santo were left furious after a damaging loss that leaves them in the relegation zone and still a point adrift of safety with only two games remaining this season, with 17th-place Tottenham at home to Leeds on Monday night with the chance to increase that deficit further.

Asked if he felt incredibly hard done by after the game, West Ham captain Bowen told Sky Sports: “Yeah. There’s a lot of ways that you could go about answering this question.

Key call: Callum Wilson’s last-gasp equaliser for West Ham against Arsenal was ruled out after a long VAR review

PA

“Because we're on the receiving end of it we’re going to feel hard done by. Football is a sport that brings enjoyment, brings fans together and brings people big moments.

“We had our big moment then, we thought we'd got back into the game, [but you] look at something for five minutes, [you're] trying to find something. Goalkeepers are protected more than outfield players, there's lots of holding and grappling that goes on in the box.

“Are you going to look at those every single time and give a penalty? Because that's the only way that is the right way to do it.

“I get that you can't wipe a goalkeeper out and there's arms there but the keeper's come out to try and grab the ball so he's got to be seen - not as an outfield player - but he's got to expect contact. It's a corner kick, it's physical, it's the Premier League, there's going to be contact and tussles.

“We’re on the receiving end of it so we feel more hard done by but we had one at Brentford last week where Soucek got dragged down and we didn't get a penalty.

“I'm just saying as a consistency level - VAR is here to stay, we know that - but I just think the decisions... people are going to think I sound bitter but I'm just being honest. If you look at something for long enough you'll find something to give and I think that's what happened in the end.

"I can guarantee people, pundits, everyone that watches the game knows that football is a physical game and there's holding every single time. No one wants to see penalties given every single week or fouls against every single week.

“You want the game to be going on, that's why everyone loves football, because they love the fast-action, fast-paced, physical game.

“Goalkeepers are different because they do get a little bit of different treatment, but in the same breath I think there has got to be some understanding that when there’s a corner, these days people like to put the corner on top of the goalkeeper and create that confusion and fight in the six-yard box.

“I'm not coming here to sound bitter and blame different things. I'm just being honest about the situation we’ve been on the receiving end of.”

Speaking to BBC Sport, Bowen said: “Where's the consistency? As a fan you don't want to celebrate a goal and then wait eight minutes and it's taken off you.”

Asked if he thought it was a foul by Pablo on Raya, Bowen replied: “I think he has his arm on him. I'm not going to come and be naive and stupid, I do think he's got his arm on him.

“But if the goalkeeper is coming to try and catch the cross we're trying to affect that, we don't want that. He's coming out of his six-yard box, he has to expect some contact because that's the whole point. Where is the line? Where is the bar?

“We've lost the game. In a game where we had to be good in our shape, defend well, they get the goal but we kept in the game and had some other good big chances.

“Regardless of the decision, we have still lost the game and dropped a point. Two games left, it's do or die. We showed good attitude today, went toe to toe with the Premier League leaders so we can't feel defeated. We have to keep going and that's all we can do.”