‘VAR disrespected us’: David Moyes left fuming with officials after West Ham denied late penalty
Furious David Moyes accuses VAR officials of ‘DIRESPECT’ after West Ham were denied a late penalty in defeat to Liverpool when the ball hit Thiago in the penalty area
David Moyes accused the VAR of ‘disrespect’ after West Ham were denied a late penalty as they drifted to a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool.
Moyes angrily confronted Chris Kavanagh full-time on the pitch after the referee decided not to award a penalty when Thiago’s arm hit the ball as he challenged Danny Ings in the penalty area.
The Hammers boss was convinced that VAR should have at least told Neil Swarbrick Kavanagh to watch the incident on the pitch monitor.
“Since then I’ve had a chance to see it,” Moyes said. “The difference for me is, and you’ll probably hear them come out with some crap that he had to break his fall, but if you fall out, it’s your own fault because you fall out and can’t control the tackle.
“You can break your fall by slipping and having to put your arm down, but if you lunge for the ball, to me that negates everything they talk about breaking your fall. I think it’s a penalty kick.
Manager David Moyes was displeased after West Ham were denied a late penalty
Moyes was convinced it was a penalty after Thiago’s arm hit the ball as he fell into the box
“I think the hardest thing to accept is the lack of respect from the VAR, that the VAR wouldn’t have at least told the referee that this would be worth watching. Which tells me they don’t even see that close to a decision. I am surprised.
“Someone at VAR didn’t have enough football knowledge to understand that this could come close.
“Whoever it was chose not to send the referee. The VAR didn’t show us any respect for me.
‘The handball rule has changed radically and I don’t like it much, to be honest. Do I think the boy meant to touch his hand tonight? No, I did not. But he got his hand in the way of a ball made by his own actions.
“Look, that’s not the point (apologies). Maybe they should apologize to the football club for trying to pick up points to be a premier league team.”
Joel Matip’s towering header saw Liverpool come from behind to take a third win in a row.
The Hammers led through a wonder strike from Lucas Paqueta, but were pushed back by Cody Gakpo’s long-range drive.
Moyes felt referee Chris Kavanagh should have watched the incident on the fieldside monitor
And shortly after Jarrod Bowen had a goal disallowed for offside, Matip struck from a corner to halt West Ham’s recent uptick.
“I now heard about handball. I thought he just fell on the ball, but I understand why Moyesie would think otherwise,” said Reds boss Jürgen Klopp, whose side climbed to sixth.
‘I really liked the performance. We were exceptional for parts of the first half. We made one mistake and they scored a great goal, what a shout. But we kept calm and scored our screamer.
“I also liked the second half. We had to dig deep because of West Ham’s physicality. I would have liked to have played the game if it had been a draw. We won, so that makes it the perfect night for us.’