Jarrod Bowen Questions Controversial West Ham Penalty Decision vs. Man United
West Ham were given a controversial late penalty against Manchester United after Matthijs de Ligt was judged to have fouled Danny Ings inside the box
Jarrod Bowen has suggested that referee David Coote might have made the wrong decision to award West Ham a stoppage-time penalty during their controversial 2-1 win over Manchester United.
Despite dominating the first half, United fell behind in the 73rd minute. Crysencio Summerville fired home from close range after getting on the end of Danny Ings’ scuffed shot.
Erik ten Hag’s side responded to equalise within eight minutes as Casemiro bundled home, but their joy was short-lived when West Ham were handed the chance from the penalty spot.
David Coote was sent to the pitch-side monitor after Matthijs de Ligt appeared to collide with Ings inside the area and he overturned his initial decision to give West Ham a spot-kick. Jarrod Bowen struck home the resulting take from 12 yards to secure all three points for Julen Lopetegui’s men.
Delivering his verdict on the controversial decision to give West Ham a penalty, Bowen told Premier League Productions that he didn’t think a spot kick should have been given when the incident took place
Bowen said: “At the time I saw [Danny] Ings got kicked and I think they got kicked so I thought it wasn’t a pen.” He added: “I had a feeling it might get given and then Cre [Summerville] had the ball and it was a waiting game.
“With penalties, you have a routine you know where you’re going. But when you’re waiting you’re thinking shall I go the other way? But I stuck with what I know and stepped up and wanted to dispatch and thankfully I did that.”
Ten Hag, meanwhile, hinted that he didn’t think the referee and VAR made the right call. He told BBC Sport: “Before the season there was the instruction about VAR only interfering in obvious mistakes. That is not an obvious mistake from the on-field referee.”
Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara agreed with Ten Hag and fumed at the decision. He told Sky Sports: “The ball bounces up and is 50/50. Both have gone in for it and have been a bit tentative, but Ings is already on his way down. He is looking for the penalty and De Ligt misses him.
“None of them make a real contact on it and you see them things happen in the box all of the time. I think it’s harsh. The referee hasn’t given that on the field and VAR has sent him over to the monitor. He looked at that for a couple of minutes and thought: ‘Am I giving a penalty for that?’
“I’m not having it, it’s re-reffing the game, the referee has seen it but he hasn’t given it. There is not enough contact and that is not a proper foul. It’s not obvious and it’s not a massive error.”