- West Ham lost 1-0 to Arsenal on Sunday
- The Hammers netted a late equaliser that was ruled out by VAR
- Callum Wilson, who scored the goal, has given his verdict on the decision
West Ham United fell victim to a controversial VAR call as they lost 1-0 to Arsenal at the London Stadium on Sunday. The Hammers held their own throughout the game and thought they had a deserved equaliser in added time, only for VAR to end the celebrations and rule the goal out.
The decision has consequences at both ends of the Premier League table. With Tottenham Hotspur drawing with Leeds United on Monday night, West Ham could have been one point from safety, rather than two, which is a big difference with two games to go.
At the top of the table, the three points keeps Arsenal well in control of their title hopes, leaving it out of Manchester City’s hands, who would have had the advantage had the Hammers goal stood.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s team now have to pick themselves up once again, and go into their final two games knowing they need to win out and hope Spurs slip up.
Callum Wilson has his say on West Ham’s disallowed goal
West Ham striker Callum Wilson, who netted the ruled out equaliser, told Sky Sports all anyone wants from VAR is consistency, and whilst the team will move on, he believes the goal should have stood.
“For me it’s against us, are you saying it’s a foul? Possibly. But of course, there’s incidents that have happened throughout the season that are similar.
“I just think if there’s consistency then there’s no complaints from anybody and I think with that specific incident five seconds before it there’s obviously other fouls that are in there.
“So, if you’re going to pull up one you’re going to have to pull up all of them. I think he probably should have just let it see itself out and think it’s just handbags in the box and it is what it is. But it wasn’t to be.
“I’m going to say yes (it should’ve stood) because I scored the goal for one. But for two, we see a lot of teams nowadays doing a similar situation in the box blocking goalkeepers.
“We analysed Arsenal’s set-pieces before the match and there was a lot of that going on in there. That’s not just to say they do it, everybody does it.
“If Trossard’s facing the ball and it’s a genuine challenge. And if you talk about Pablo’s hand on the goalkeeper as an isolated incident, of course it’s a foul.
“But if you look at Trossard not even facing the ball, pushing him, Gabriel pulling his shirt, he’s going to have to stop himself from falling somehow.
“Whether that’s putting his arm out and then trying to hold on to something, which unfortunately was the goalkeeper’s arm. If that was another player and it stops him from jumping up to head the ball it’s not going to get given as a foul. If that’s a foul then Trossard before it is a foul”
