David Moyes has accused VAR of disrespecting West Ham after his team were denied a late penalty in his team’s eventual 2-1 defeat to Liverpool at London Stadium.
The Hammers boss confronted Chris Kavanagh on the pitch at full-time after the referee decided not to award a penalty when Thiago’s arm made contact with the ball in the box.
Moyes was adamant that the VAR official, Neil Swarbrick, should have at least advised Kavanagh to review the incident on the pitchside monitor.
“The hardest thing to take is the disrespect from VAR, that VAR wouldn’t have at least said to the referee that this might be worth having a look,” Moyes said in a post-match interview.
“VAR, for me, showed no respect whatsoever to us.”
Liverpool came from behind to win the game, with Joel Matip scoring the decisive goal from a corner in the second half.
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“I’ve [had] a chance to see it since,” Moyes added. “The difference for me is, and you’ll probably hear them coming out with some rubbish about he needed to break his fall, but if you lunge it’s your own fault for lunging and being out of control in the tackle.
“You can break your fall by sliding and having to put your arm down but when you lunge for the ball, for me, that completely nullifies anything they’re talking about breaking your fall. I think it’s a penalty kick.
“The handball rule has changed dramatically and I don’t like a lot of it, to be fair. Do I think the boy meant tonight for it to hit his hand? No, I didn’t. But he got his hand in the way of a ball going through made by his own actions.
“Somebody in VAR didn’t have enough football knowledge to understand that this could be close. Whoever it was chose not to send the referee. VAR, for me, showed no respect whatsoever to us.”
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said he was pleased his team’s performance and was pleased with the win, but acknowledged Moyes’ frustration at the penalty call: “I heard now about the handball. I thought he just fell on the ball but I can see why Moyes would think different,” Klopp said.
“I would have liked the game if it was a draw. We won so that makes it the perfect night for us.”
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