West Ham United manager David Moyes and club captain Declan Rice have avoided punishment at the hands of the FA after making comments in regard to Maxwel Cornet’s disallowed goals against Chelsea, as per The Athletic’s Roshane Thomas.
The Lowdown: Disallowed goal
The Hammers fell to a late 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge on Saturday after an 88th-minute goal from Kai Havertz denied the Irons a well-deserved point.
However, just moments after the German forward netted the decisive goal, new West Ham signing Cornet appeard to have netted an equaliser after a mix-up between Reece James and Edouard Mendy.
Referee Andy Madley was sent to the monitor by VAR attendant Jarred Gillet to have a look at the Ivorian’s goal for an apparent soft challenge on the Chelsea goalkeeper by Jarrod Bowen. As a result, Cornet’s equaliser was ruled out, resulting in a galling defeat for West Ham.
The Latest: Moyes and Rice let off
After the match, both Moyes and Rice made their frustrations clear over the decision to overturn the goal.
As quoted by The Athletic, the Irons manager slammed the officials by saying: “You have seen it, it is a scandalous decision, absolutely rotten from one of the supposedly elite referees. It doesn’t say much about whoever sent him over from VAR as well — it is an unbelievable decision against us.
“The referee should have stuck to his own guns and been big enough to do what he said. They have new people in charge, so they’re trying to do something. But I’ve lost faith in them after that today. I’ve lost faith in the people who are putting it up for VAR. After watching it, I can’t see how the goal is not given.”
Rice also criticised the decision, calling it a "shambles" and "one of the worst VAR decisions made since it’s come into the game". The 23-year-old later tweeted: “Can’t believe the referee has even been asked to go take a look at the monitor! Cannot see how they’ve come to that decision.”
Despite those strong words, Thomas has reported for The Athletic that the West Ham pair have been granted an escape from any further consequences, as the FA do not believe that the comments meet the threshold for a disciplinary charge.
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The Verdict: Awful decision to overrule
With both teams having produced three shots on target and two clear-cut chances, it is astounding to see such poor officiating rob West Ham of a well-deserved point in their hard-fought battle against Chelsea.
However, the only saving grace here is that the FA will not be pursuing action against Moyes and Rice, who are well within their rights to vent their frustrations with the unjust decision and will not face bans from the touchline and pitch respectively.
As per The Athletic, top-flight clubs are able to discuss issues with the Premier League after the matchweek is complete.
As such, West Ham have every right to challenge the VAR decision which overturned Cornet’s last-ditch goal, which consequently sees them drop into the relegation zone.