West Ham United manager David Moyes has slammed the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system after went against his players during their Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday where they succumbed a 2-0 defeat.
Moyes was unhappy after the VAR did not disallow Tottenham’s first goal which came as a result of an own-goal from West Ham’s Tomas Soucek. The result stood despite the ball seemingly brushing off the arm of Davinson Sanchez before hitting Soucek.
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“I can’t believe they’ve ruled that as a goal. The rules are that any handball that leads to a goal is disallowed? We had a great goal ruled out against Sheffield United for something – and they’ve not ruled that one out? Who was on VAR tonight? They need a subbed, I know that. Not very good, eh?” Moyes told Sky Sports.
“That’s the rule. I don’t think it’s a particularly good rule but it’s the rule. For them not to give that tonight? I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it.”
Moyes later added in his post-match press conference, as quoted by IANS, “I thought that every ball that hit an arm and led to a goal was to be chalked off.
“I am asking who is it making that decision? We scored a really good goal in the 90th minute at Sheffield United and the boy claimed it was handball and we couldn’t believe it.
“Do I think it is a good rule? No, I don’t. Whoever it was on VAR tonight, didn’t do his job right because he didn’t abide by the rules we were told we are supposed to play to,” he added.
Meanwhile, the VAR had gone against Spurs as well after South Korean international Son Heung-min disturbed the back of the net for the first time with a smart finish at Lukasz Fabianski’s near post and the goal was ruled out for offside by a VAR review.
Harry Kane starred at an empty Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday as he led the Spurs to commendable 2-0 win over West Ham. Other than the own goal, Kane netted the only goal by a Spurs player as he timed his run perfectly from a Son Heung-min pass before coolly slotting past Fabianski and collapsing to the ground in a mixture of relief and exhaustion in the 82nd minute.
