Arsenal's Spanish goalkeeper #01 David Raya reaches for the goal during the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Arsenal at the London Stadium(Photo by Adrian Dennis / AFP)
West Ham goalkeeper Mads Hermansen believes pushing and shoving at corners in the Premier League has become a major problem after VAR denied his side a late equaliser against Arsenal for a foul on Gunners counterpart David Raya.
Relegation-threatened West Ham thought they had rescued a precious point against the league leaders when Callum Wilson equalised in stoppage time at the London Stadium on Sunday after Raya had dropped the ball.
But the goal was disallowed by referee Chris Kavanagh, following a lengthy review that saw him advised to consult the pitchside monitor, for a foul by Pablo on Raya.
READ ALSO: Arsenal Edge West Ham After VAR Drama To Boost Title Hopes
The decision meant Leandro Trossard’s 82nd-minute strike eventually proved enough for Arsenal to secure a 1-0 win that took them five points clear at the top of the table and left London rivals West Ham in the bottom three with just two games left to play.
West Ham were furious with the decision and now reportedly plan to raise their concerns with the referees’ body, Professional Game Match Officials.
“If you ask any goalkeeper in the league if he’s been illegally blocked, pulled, or pushed on corners this season, I think you will not find anyone who has not experienced this,” Hermansen said.
“So to give this (decision against West Ham), I’m not sure I understand why.
“Of course, we watched it afterwards, and we can see there’s shirt pulls on (Konstantinos) Mavropanos, shirt pulls on (Tomas) Soucek, even shirt pulls on Pablo before the goal. So to pick this situation…”
The 25-year-old Denmark international made it clear he accepted Raya had been impeded but questioned why other similar incidents had not been penalised in the same way.
“You know, I agree it’s a foul,” he said.
“You can give the foul on the goalkeeper, definitely.
“But (with) what has been given during this season of goals with illegal blocks and illegal pulls and pushing and stuff on goalkeepers, I don’t understand why that’s been given. That’s all.
“I spoke with David after the game, and I think we have the same experience on this matter during this season.
“Because, of course, he has every right to ask for a free-kick or a foul on him. But I think you can find a lot of situations during this season where it’s been different.”
AFP
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