Moyes slams VAR 'disrespect' after West Ham denied late penalty in Reds defeat
West Ham United manager David Moyes has slammed VAR after not giving his side a late penalty during the Hammers' 2-1 defeat to Liverpool at the London Stadium on Wednesday night
West Ham United manager David Moyes has said he felt disrespected by VAR after not being given a late penalty during the 2-1 defeat to Liverpool on Wednesday night.
The Hammers had gone 1-0 up in the game thanks to Lucas Paqueta’s early strike, cancelled out within minutes by Cody Gakpo before Joel Matip sealed a win with a second half header.
However, West Ham thought they should have had a penalty late on when Danny Ings’ run was blocked by a lunge from Liverpool midfielder Thiago, who blocked the ball with his hand and it touched his hand three times in the move.
However, referee Chris Kavanagh opted not to stop the game to look at it and he was not referred to his pitchside monitor by VAR official Neil Swarbrick.
Speaking on the refused penalty, Moyes said that the lunge means that his side should have had a penalty and felt VAR disrespected his players, adding that he felt the officials in VAR did not have enough football knowledge to overturn the decision.
"I have had a chance to see it since," said Moyes. "You’ll probably hear them coming out with some rubbish about he needed to break his fall but if you lunge it’s your own fault for lunging and being out of control in the tackle.
"You can break your fall by sliding and having to put your arm down but when you lunge for the ball, for me, that completely nullifies anything they’re talking about breaking your fall.
"I think it’s a penalty kick. I think the hardest thing to take is the disrespect from VAR, that VAR wouldn’t have at least said to the referee that this might be worth having a look. That tells me they don’t see that as even close to a decision. I’m surprised.
"Somebody in VAR didn’t have enough football knowledge to understand that this could be close.
"Whoever it was chose not to send the referee. VAR, for me, showed no respect to me whatsoever to us.
Why Ruben Dias wasn't shown VAR red card during Man City vs Arsenal
Arsenal news: Scenes flared up in Arsenal's clash against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium towards the end of the first half as Ruben Dias appeared to kick out at Ben White
Just seven minutes into the game though, their ideal start was shattered as Erling Haaland found Kevin De Bruyne, who took aim from range and found the bottom corner. It was a half of torrential attacks from City, who continued to knock on the door, but couldn't find another.
That was until the stroke of half time, when John Stones had a free header and managed to find the back of the net. The flag was raised for offside, but after a lengthy check on VAR, it was deemed to be onside as the home team took a two-goal lead going into the break.
VAR checked the decision for a potential red card for violent conduct, but it was decided that the defender would only receive a yellow. Former referee Mark Clattenburg explained on BT Sport: "I think what they did is look for a potential red card, if Ruben Dias had used any force in the challenge or the kick-out to Ben White. He didn’t, it was more of a petulant kick, and therefore the VAR was correct in identifying that it was a yellow card offence."
It's a decision that could be viewed as controversial after the game, given just how important the result is for both teams
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