Former EPL referee SLAMS 'bizarre' decision to award West Ham's late penalty

A former Premier League referee has lambasted the decision to award West Ham's contentious penalty in their 2-1 win against Manchester United.

Casemiro thought he had earned a point for United when he headed in an equaliser in the 81st minute - to cancel out Crysencio Summerville's opener - on Sunday.

However, Erik ten Hag and his players were left furious when, in the final moments, referee David Coote awarded the hosts a penalty following a lengthy VAR review.

Matthijs de Ligt was adjudged to have fouled Danny Ings in the box, but the defender argued the striker had handled the ball in the build-up.

Coote did not give a foul in real-time but was sent to the monitor and opted to overturn his original decision.

The incident sparked debate among pundits and fans online, with former Red Devil Gary Neville insisting it 'wasn't right' from the officials.

Now, former Premier League referee Keith Hackett has spoken out on the situation and insisted he thought it was a 'bizarre' call from VAR chief Michael Oliver.

In his column for The Telegraph, he wrote: 'Crikey me, this is horrendous. The decision to give West Ham a penalty that they won the game from – and could cost Erik ten Hag his job – is one of the worst I have ever seen.

'I cannot see how Matthijs de Ligt was adjudged to have fouled Danny Ings. I am struggling to even put this into words. It is bizarre – I am stunned. Actually, it is worse than bizarre. A park referee would not even give this as a penalty. Ten Hag has every right to be furious.

'It is not a clear and obvious error for David Coote to give no penalty. What on earth has Michael Oliver even seen, as the VAR? It goes back to what I have spoken about in the past, about referees and hierarchy.

'Everyone says Oliver is the No 1 referee in the country, and Coote is probably eight, nine or 10 in the list. I am not saying he is subservient, that would be the wrong choice of words, but is Coote essentially just taking Oliver's word for it? Is he working on a preconceived idea that Oliver must be right all the time?

'The Premier League released a statement that said: 'The referee did not award a penalty to West Ham for a challenge by De Ligt on Ings. The VAR deemed there was sufficient contact on Ings's lower leg and recommended an on-field review. The referee overturned his original decision and awarded a penalty.'

'There seems to be no explanation about the thought process that has gone into this.'

The Premier League said VAR official Michael Oliver had deemed there to be significant contact on Ings' lower leg and therefore recommended an on-field review.

Ten Hag was asked whether the fact it was a senior referee who had called for the review affected Coote's decision to overturn his original call.

Speaking after the game, he said: 'I don't criticise any person, I criticise the process. Of course there are people that are running the process.

'The off-field VAR was Michael Oliver. The on-field [referee] has to make a decision in the final moment.

'He took I think three minutes to decide and to make this call. But then you have to show big personality to ignore this decision that an experienced VAR [referee] has made.'