A brilliant picture shows an incredulous West Ham boss David Moyes mocking Newcastle star Sandro Tonali during a refereeing display which left him fuming.
West Ham fans have been witness to some horrendous officiating down the years.
But the performance of Peter Bankes in West Ham’s 2-2 draw with Newcastle United set a new benchmark.
One thing that is guaranteed when the Hammers and Newcastle meet is entertainment.
Bankes did his best to spoil what was a pulsating game, though, with utter ineptitude and double standards.
West Ham fans left the official in no doubt about his performance with what they relentlessly chanted at the London Stadium.
Hammers undone by 12th man
And West Ham boss David Moyes was livid with Bankes in his post match press conference.
It feels a bit too easy to have a go at match officials at the moment.
But referee Bankes put in one of the most abysmal displays of officiating you will see anywhere – let alone the best league in the world.
He repeatedly failed to book Newcastle players for blatant fouls. He yellow carded Emerson for dissent but failed to do the same thing when Miguel Almiron gave him back chat.
Bankes then completely bottled sending off Newcastle star Bruno Guimaraes – who was already on a yellow – for a clear foul which stopped a West Ham attack.
Brilliant picture shows incredulous West Ham boss David Moyes mocking Newcastle star Sandro Tonali during refereeing display which left him fuming
Then in the second half came a defining moment when the official gave a foul against Lucas Paqueta when it was actually Sandro Tonali who had tried to drag him to the ground in a bid to stop a potentially dangerous Hammers break.
With Michail Antonio in support, what should have been a chance at a possible two-on-one turned into a set-piece from which Eddie Howe’s side equalised.
Then right at the death with the last kick of the game, Bankes gave a free-kick in a not too dissimilar position out on the right by the touchline, in front of the dugouts. What should have been a throw-in to West Ham was given as a free-kick for a foul on Tonali who rolled around in faux agony.
They say a picture paints a thousand words. And that’s certainly true here.
A picture paints a thousand words
Because a brilliant picture shows incredulous Moyes mocking Newcastle star Tonali during the shambolic refereeing display which left him fuming.
Moyes can be seen bent over laughing in anger and disbelief at what he witnessed as Newcastle’s £55m man rolls around on the pitch.
If one image perfectly summed up the match, it is probably this one above.
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