VAR ruled out West Ham’s equaliser against Arsenal. (Image: Getty)
The Premier League Match Centre has explained why VAR intervened to disallow Callum Wilson’s late equaliser for West Ham against Arsenal. The Hammers thought they had pulled level when Declan Rice failed to stop the ball going over the line, prompting jubilant scenes inside the London Stadium, which were quickly halted.
VAR decided to look at the incident, with forward Pablo accused of fouling goalkeeper David Raya at a corner, which ultimately ended up with the goalkeeper flapping at the ball and then Wilson pouncing. After a lengthy wait, the referee was called over to the monitor to review the moment.
Eventually, after discussion with those working on VAR, the official decided to overturn his initial decision to award a goal. He blew the whistle moments later as Arsenal grabbed a crucial three points in the title race.
The Match Centre said: “After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of goal to West Ham United. Referee announcement: ‘After review, West Ham number 19 commits a foul on the goalkeeper. Final decision is direct free kick’.”
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Leandro Trossard, who ended up scoring the only goal of the game, said that Raya immediately felt that he was fouled when the ball was delivered into the box.
“That was one of the toughest games in general,” he told Sky Sports. “When we scored there was a lot of joy, but then we had to dig in at the end and not concede. Then with the goal, I was just happy we won.
“Raya said straight away it can’t be a goal. At that moment, I had a lot of faith. I believed because he was pretty convincing, but you never know.
“You are thinking it is not going our way, but luckily it was a foul and we won the game. It was relief as there wasn’t long to go, but we still had to dig in for a couple of minutes. We are just really happy with this win.”
VAR looked at the goal and ruled it out. (Image: Sky Sports)
West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen led complaints from the home side, who were denied what would have been an invaluable point in their bid to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
He said: “Yeah [hard done by]. There is a lot of ways I could go about answering this question. Because we are on the receiving end, we will feel hard done by. Football is a sport that brings enjoyment and brings big moments. We had our big moment and thought we got back in the game.
“Look at something for five minutes, trying to find something. Goalkeepers are protected more than outfield players and there is a lot of holding inside the box. Are you going to look at those every time and give a penalty? That is the only way that is the right way to do it.
“You can’t wipe a goalkeeper out but the keeper has come in to grab the ball and has to expect contact. It’s the Premier League; there is going to be contact.
“We had one at Brentford last week when Tomas Soucek got pulled at the back post and did not get a penalty. I just think, like I said, if you look at something long enough, you will find something to give.
“I can guarantee that pundits and people watching know football is a physical game. If you’re going to give it, give it every week. Where is the line and where is the bar?”