West Ham United skipper Jarrod Bowen has slammed PGMOL's officials for ruling out Callum Wilson's added-on time equaliser in this afternoon's Premier League meeting with Arsenal.
Referee Chris Kavanagh and VAR operator Darren England combined to cancel out Wilson's effort by coming to the conclusion that substitute Pablo has impeded Arsenal 'keeper David Raya.However the decision left Bowen and his team mates - who are now odds-on to be relegated - absolutely seething.
"Well, I can guarantee you that people, the pundits, everyone that watches football know that football is a physical game and there's holding every single time," he began.
"No one wants to see penalties every single week. No one wants to see fouls against every single week. You know, you want the game to be going on.
"That's why, like I said, that's why everyone loves football, because they love, you know, a fast action, fast-paced, physical game. But if we're going to give, free kicks for that? Like I said, goalkeepers are different because they do get, a little bit of different treatment.
"But in the same breath, I think there's got to be a little bit of understanding with it as well that, when there's a corner, you see how corners are these days, people want to put it on top of goalkeepers, create that confusion, create that kind of fight in the six-yard box.
"So that's what I think it is. And like I said, I'm not coming here to sound bitter and blame different things, but I think I'm just being honest about the situation, the receiving end that we've been on."
And asked whether he felt the decision was particularly ironic given the amount of occasions on which Arsenal have benefitted from situations like todays, in which they scored from putting the opposition goalkeeper under pressure at corners, Bowen agreed.
"Well yeah, they're probably the best example of being so good from set pieces, a real threat of their game," said Bowen. "You know they're physical and they want to put the ball on top of the goalkeeper.
"I'm sure we could go back through every single game and see goalkeepers getting fouled and not getting decisions. So that's my point with it - if you're going to give it, give it for every single one that happens week in, week up."
And Bowen was also annoyed by the sheer length of time it took Darren England's VAR team to reach their decision,
"When you're looking at a screen for five minutes, in the end you're going to find something that you've been sent over there to look at," he insisted. "You know, it's a lot of grappling, there's a lot of holding in the box.
"If you look long enough I'm sure you'll find something that will give the goal against us. But do I think it's the right decision? No, but we have to accept it if the game's done now and we've lost."
Bowen also hit out at the clear and frequent inconsistencies surrounding VAR decisions - which, while allowed one week, may be considered illegal the next - and that at least two fouls on West Ham players during the same incident were entirely overlooked, including Declan Rice's hold of Dinos Mavropanos.
"That's the frustration," said Bowen. "Where's the consistency? No one, as a fan, as a viewer, wants to be celebrating the goal and then waiting eight minutes or whatever it was and then have it taken off you.
"The corners are physical. The Premier League is physical. It's probably the most physical league in the world. That's why everyone loves it. They want to see the ball and play. They want to see action.
"And at corners, you have to expect contact, and if you're going to give decisions like that, you have to give all the holding calls in the world. And that's not the way that people, I'm sure, want the game to go."
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