West Ham were dealt a body blow midway through the first-half against Chelsea at the London Stadium last night after a truly shocking VAR decision. And Gary Lineker and Joey Barton were among the high profile figures to react to the incident on Twitter.
In the end, it didn’t actually matter. The Hammers beat the Blues 3-2. But things could have been so different.
Tomas Soucek tapped home after a goal-line scramble on the 33 minute mark. But after more than three minutes of deliberation, the goal was then chalked off.
Tomas Soucek (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Michail Antonio (lying on the ground) was adjudged to have interfered with play from an offside position and blocked the view of Kepa Arrizabalaga (standing up).
It summed up West Ham’s recent luck. They have been on the wrong end of some really tight VAR calls this season.
But last night’s one against Chelsea took the biscuit.
And high profile footballing figures Gary Lineker and Joey Barton took to Twitter to give their opinions on the incident last night:
Gary Lineker (Photo by Dave J Hogan/Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
Even before the decision I’ve started to really loathe VAR. what are they doing?
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) July 1, 2020
They’ll claim he’s impeding the keeper’s view, which he’s not. Utterly absurd. https://t.co/zTgzAZaJlT
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) July 1, 2020
If that’s not a goal, VAR has got to go. Ruining the game.
— Joey Barton (@Joey7Barton) July 1, 2020
Keep goal line technology. That has helped. Invest in referees. Let’s help them, not undermine them. Rugby do it superbly. As do most other sports. Maybe it’s not for football?
— Joey Barton (@Joey7Barton) July 1, 2020
At the end of the day, however, West Ham won the game. So we can’t grumble too much.
But the fact that VAR could have cost us two precious points last night cannot be ignored.
David Moyes will be delighted with his side’s victory. And the Scot will be hoping that his team get some more favourable VAR calls between now and the end of the season.
There is a place for technology in the game. But VAR needs a serious amount of fine-tuning if it is going to work.