West Ham were left seething after Callum Wilson’s goal was disallowed following a prolonged VAR check. The review lasted several minutes before the referee was directed to the pitchside monitor, where he concluded that David Raya had been fouled in the build-up and overturned the goal.
Regardless of whether the call was correct, it caused widespread bewilderment among West Ham’s players, staff and fans. Many also noted the irony, particularly in a season where Arsenal’s aggressive corner routines appeared to have shaped how physical play is assessed across the Premier League.
Here is what manager Nuno Espírito Santo and captain Jarrod Bowen had to say about the contentious decision.
Nuno Espírito Santo acknowledged the decision left the whole camp frustrated.
“Given the circumstances, we were all obviously disappointed,” he said.
“I deliberately avoided watching the replay back — I didn’t want to make myself even more annoyed. But these decisions have gone different ways in similar situations before, so there’s no point dwelling on it.”
He also raised doubts about the consistency of refereeing this season, suggesting officials themselves are uncertain at times.
“That’s the problem. We’ve seen these moments all season, and sometimes even the referees don’t appear to know what the right call is. It just creates uncertainty and debate.”
Jarrod Bowen, meanwhile, made little effort to hide his frustration after the late equaliser was chalked off.
“He’s coming off his line and outside his six-yard box, so some degree of contact has to be anticipated. The question is — where do you draw the line?” Bowen said.
“Once the goal was ruled out, we ended up losing the game despite working incredibly hard and staying organised throughout.”
“It was a real gut punch because we felt we had clawed our way back. The annoying thing is this decision will probably be talked about for weeks.”
Bowen also took aim at the drawn-out VAR process, arguing that lengthy reviews tend to produce a foregone conclusion.
“When you spend five minutes staring at a screen, you’re eventually going to find something to justify a call. Personally, I don’t believe it was the right decision, but you have no choice but to move on.”
He went on to highlight wider concerns about consistency in Premier League officiating.
“That’s what winds everyone up — there’s no consistency. Supporters don’t want to sit through an eight-minute wait only to see a goal disallowed. The Premier League is loved because it’s a physical game. At set pieces, there will always be contact.”
“If decisions like that are going to be made, then officials need to be clamping down on all the holding and pushing too. We had a very similar situation involving Tomas Soucek at Brentford that wasn’t even given as a penalty.”
