- West Ham thought they had equalized against Leicester in the second half
- The goal was disallowed and some fans rejected the referee’s decision
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West Ham were left to curse their luck after having their equalizer controversially disallowed in their Premier League match against Leicester City on Tuesday evening.
After falling behind to an early Jamie Vardy goal, Julen Lopetegui created plenty of chances to get back into the game and thought they had done so when the ball went into the air and Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen missed his punch under pressure from Tomas Soucek in front of the ball. landed in the goal.
The away fans started celebrating, but their euphoria was cut short by the referee’s whistle. The VAR checked the decision and decided to stick with the call on the field, much to the dismay of Soucek and his teammates.
Replays suggested it was a tough call for West Ham, with Soucek appearing to have very little contact with Hermansen, and just seconds later things got worse for the visitors.
Within a minute, Leicester erupted at the other end and Kasey McAteer squared the ball to Bilal El Khannouss to slot home and double his side’s lead.
That goal gave Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side breathing space in his first game in charge, but fans online were convinced West Ham had struggled.
West Ham were controversially ruled out with a goal in the second half of their clash with Leicester
Tomas Soucek insisted he had done nothing wrong, but VAR stuck with the referee’s call on the pitch
It turned out to be a crucial moment, as Leicester won 3-1 in Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first match
“West Ham absolutely robbed there. Dogs*** goalkeeping. Never a foul and a minute later it’s 2-0 to Leicester,” wrote a fan on X.
“How that isn’t a goal for West Ham is beyond me, the Leicester keeper jumps into his own man,” another supporter added.
That 60-second period seemed to give West Ham a fright as they conceded a third goal in the final minute of normal time when substitute Patson Daka smashed the ball into the roof of the net after being played through on goal.
Niclas Fullkrug came off the bench to provide a consolation in injury time, but it was too little too late as West Ham slipped to a disappointing defeat.
The result moved Leicester up to 15th in the table, and they are now four points clear of the bottom three.
West Ham are only one place and two points better off, while the pressure on Lopetegui is increasing.