One of the major frustrations for West Ham United fans after their late equaliser against Arsenal was ruled out was the fact that Declan Rice appeared to have a hold of Konstantinos Mavropanos at the same time.
It would be much easier to accept Pablo Felipe being punished for a foul on David Raya if there was consistency with those calls across the Premier League.
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The right call? Or harsh on Pablo?
Quite why Rice grappling with Mavropanos went unpunished while Pablo was pulled up for his foul seriously frustrated West Ham United supporters on social media.
While West Ham are set to lodge an official complaint as they look for answers, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has offered his view of the Rice incident.
Rice fouled Mavropanos after Pablo fouled Raya
When quizzed about the decision making on Sunday, Gallagher suggested that the fact that Rice fouled Mavropanos after Pablo on Raya meant that it rightly wasn’t looked at.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Gallagher said: “Between the officials, they came to the right decision. When you watch it, there is so much going on and to look at and what happens is you go have to go in chronological order.
Nothing can change now – but what do YOU want to hear from the PGMO?! 😳
I want to know why Rice on Dinos was ignored! 😡
“If you look at it, Pablo puts his arm across Raya, he holds him, there is no doubt about that. Behind that, Declan Rice is engaged with Mavropanos, is that a penalty?
“Well, if you look at it in that order, definitely Pablo goes first, his arm is across Raya and at that point, Rice is reaching, he does get hold of him, there is no doubt about that. And if there is not a foul on the goalkeeper, that is definitely a penalty as Mavropanos is running towards the ball.
“But the first foul is definitely by Pablo.”
Again, hearing that in isolation is somewhat acceptable. There is a method there and it makes a degree of sense, even if it is very painful.
Still, the major issue is that rules just aren’t always universally applied. Some fouls are given, while others are ignored entirely.
It’s genuinely hard to say whether that was the right call or not, because the definition of what exactly is a correct decision is up for debate.
To suggest that West Ham’s plight this season is solely down to the Wilson decision would clearly be wrong.
However, such a high profile event naturally raises the question across the Premier League. How have we come to this point?
When the stakes are so high, clarity is needed.
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