'It's wrong' - Ex-Premier League referee issues verdict on controversial decision during West Ham vs Chelsea

Chelsea may have gotten away with one during their comfortable win over West Ham on Saturday. The Blues continued their improved form by blowing away the Hammers with a 3-0 away win.

Nicolas Jackson scored twice in the first half, setting the tone for the afternoon, and just after the break he turned provider to set up Cole Palmer for Chelsea’s third. There was, however, a controversial call involving Wesley Fofana, who was excellent on the whole, drawing special praise from Enzo Maresca.

But with the score at 2-0, Fofana appeared to reach out and pull back Crysencio Summerville as he entered the Chelsea boss, leaving Julen Lopetegui incensed on the sideline. The referee did not give a penalty, and he stuck by his original decision upon VAR review, with Fofana not adjudged to have continued contact into the box.

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher did not agree, though, telling Sky Sports: “I think it's a penalty. He holds him so long. It starts outside the penalty area. He holds him, he holds him, he holds him. It's gone on too long. The dilemma for the VAR is the referee has the perfect view and says no. I think in this case it is 'the referee's call'.

"Is it a massive howler? Well, I think it's a penalty so to me it's wrong. But the VAR isn't there to judge he's there to decide 'is it a massive howler'. Is it easier to soften the blow and send the ref to the screen? Is that what we want?"

Lopetegui’s classy response

Rather than being drawn on the penalty decision, or lack thereof, Lopetegui chose to focus on his side’s poor performance at full-time. He said: “The referee can give us a penalty but for me, it's not a key question.

“The key question is that we can't concede these kind of goals that we need to do to stay in the in the match until the trigger moments. Okay, we have to improve this. We suffered against Aston Villa and Manchester City too this kind of situation and we have to correct, to change and to improve this. We are going to do that for sure and I think that if we want to compete in all the matches in the Premier League, we have to be more consistent in this kind of approach.”