West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen has strongly criticized the controversial decision to disallow Callum Wilson’s stoppage-time goal in their 0-1 defeat to Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday.
Jarrod Bowen arguing with officials. (Photo: John Walton/PA Images/Alamy/Profimedia)
The Hammers were trailing after Leandro Trossard’s late strike at the London Stadium, but they thought they had snatched a point when Wilson slotted home after Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya spilled the ball. However, celebrations were cut short by a lengthy VAR review, which ended with referee Chris Kavanagh overturning the goal after checking the pitchside monitor, ruling that Pablo had fouled Raya.
Nuno Espírito Santo’s side remains in the relegation zone, one point behind Tottenham, who occupy the fourth-from-bottom spot with a game in hand against Leeds on Monday, as they battle to avoid relegation to the Championship.
“It was a tough blow. We thought we had done enough to come back and they took it away from us,” Bowen said. “If you spend five minutes looking at the screen, you’re going to find something—there’s always grabbing and a lot of fighting. Do I think it was the right decision? No. Where is the consistency? As a fan, nobody wants to celebrate a goal and then wait eight minutes for it to be disallowed.”
West Ham also appealed for a penalty for possible fouls by Declan Rice and Trossard on Wilson in that play. Bowen also believes referees are not consistent enough when judging potential fouls during set-pieces. “Corners are physical. The Premier League is physical. That’s why everyone loves it. You have to expect contact in corners,” he said. “If you call a foul there, then you’d have to call every single grab in the world, and that’s not what people want for football.”
“I don’t want to sound bitter, but last week we had a situation where Tomas Soucek was grabbed in the Brentford box and we didn’t get a penalty. But today they call a foul like that,” he criticized.
West Ham manager Nuno Espírito Santo added: “The way the game ended, we are all naturally disappointed. I didn’t even want to watch