West Ham were denied a penalty in their defeat Chelsea – a decision that left talkSPORT commentator Sam Matterface ‘gobsmacked’.
The Hammers went 2-0 down early on but looked set or a route back into the match when Crysencio Summerville was held by Wesley Fofana in the box.
The former Leeds winger, who moved to East London for more than £25million over the summer, was played into the penalty area and went down with the Chelsea defender grabbing his arm.
On-field referee Sam Barrott turned away the Hammers’ appeals and the decision was reviewed by VAR.
However, it was eventually ruled that no penalty would be given, with Barrott not even referred to the pitchside monitor.
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A statement from the Premier League Match Centre X account wrote: “The referee’s call of no penalty for the challenge by Fofana on Summerville is checked and confirmed by VAR – deeming that this was not sustained holding.”
Responding to the incident on talkSPORT’s coverage, chief commentator Matterface and ex-England striker Ashton had the following exchange…
Ashton: “Fofana has got hold of him, he’s got hold of his arm, there’s no doubt about that.
“He’s got hold of Summerville’s arm, it’s just whether the officials feel there is enough for Summerville to be twisting and falling to the floor as he did.”
Matterface: “That’s a penalty. I’ll be absolutely gobsmacked if this isn’t overturned here.
“Surely the referee is going to be told to look at the monitor… but it looks like he’s not going to. They’re still reviewing it, but it doesn’t look like the referee is interested in going to have a look at it.”
Dean: “But how? This is really frustrating. How can the referee that is on the pitch not go and look at that? That’s what I just can’t get my head around.
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“The referee should at least get a good look at that situation for such a massive call, where from our point of view, even at normal speed without replays, you could tell he had hold of his arm.”
Once made aware of the Premier League’s official reasoning, the talkSPORT pundits remained unconvinced.
Ashton: “How long have you got to hold onto a player for it to be sustained, then?
“But then again, I did mention it, as Summerville has got pulled then he’s flipped his body to the floor – that is not natural.”
Matterface: “What on earth constitutes ‘sustained’ holding?”
West Ham’s afternoon got off to the worst possible start when Nicolas Jackson netted twice in 14 minutes to give Chelsea the lead.
Early in the second half things got even worse when Cole Palmer made it 3-0 to the Blues.
That victory means that Chelsea have now won three of their five Premier League games so far, scoring 11 in the process.
Meanwhile West Ham remain rooted in the bottom half with just one win so far this term.
