Cannot Believe - Gary Linekers' View Of West Ham Draw

Leicester City 2 – West Ham United 2

Leicester

• Tielemans (45′minutes pen), 
• Ricardo Pereira (57′minutes)

Half Time 1-1

West Ham

• Bowen (10′minutes), 
• Dawson (90’+1minutes)

 

Where The Result Leaves The Hammers

#	Team	MP	W	D	L	F	A	G	P
1	Manchester City	25	20	3	2	61	14	+47	63
2	Liverpool	24	16	6	2	61	19	+42	54
3	Chelsea	24	13	8	3	48	18	+30	47
4	West Ham United	25	12	5	8	44	33	+11	41
5	Manchester United	24	11	7	6	38	32	+6	40
6	Arsenal	22	12	3	7	34	25	+9	39
7	Wolverhampton Wanderers	23	11	4	8	21	17	+4	37
8	Tottenham Hotspur	22	11	3	8	28	29	-1	36
9	Brighton & Hov…	23	7	12	4	25	23	+2	33
10	Southampton	24	6	11	7	30	37	-7	29
11	Leicester City	22	7	6	9	36	41	-5	27
12	Aston Villa	23	8	3	12	31	36	-5	27
13	Crystal Palace	24	5	11	8	32	35	-3	26
14	Brentford	25	6	6	13	26	40	-14	24
15	Leeds United	23	5	8	10	27	46	-19	23
16	Everton	22	6	4	12	28	38	-10	22
17	Newcastle United	23	4	9	10	25	44	-19	21
18	Norwich City	24	4	5	15	14	50	-36	17
19	Watford	23	4	3	16	23	43	-20	15
20	Burnley	21	1	11	9	17	29	-12	14

 

West Ham remain 4th after their last gasp draw with Leicester, who are suffering a crisis of sorts at the moment.

Despite a fantastic goal from Bowen, it took extra time for Dawson to seal a point against a Leicester team that seemed certain of victory. But, should Dawson’s goal have counted?

 

The View From Craig Dawson

 

The late goal that caused so much controversy came off the West Ham defenders’ arm, but new rules from last season meant that it still stood, nonetheless. What did Dawson think about it? This is what he told Sky Sports after the game:

 

 

“I was slightly worried, but it counted and that’s all that matters. It’s something we work hard on. It was a fair point for us today.”

 

 

At the end of the day, it is up to the officials to decide whether a goal stands in these circumstances or not. However, not all agreed that it should have.

 

What Gary Lineker ‘Cannot Believe’

 

Gary Lineker, ex-England legend and now Football pundit, didn’t quite see things the same way as Dawson…and presumably the officials too. This is what he had to say on his personal Twitter:

 

Still cannot believe it wasn’t given as handball. Dawson knew it went in off his arm by his reaction in the post match interview. One of those spells where everything is going wrong.”

 

Even though Lineker clearly thought that the decision was sub-optimal, it is the latest in a never ending flow of questionable decisions that VAR has failed to correct.

Just a few days before, Arsenal’s Martinelli was sent off for a second bookable offence…despite not yet having been shown the first Yellow Card! Now, scoring off the arm will continue to have pundits and fans alike questioning the rules, and their interpretation and application.

 

 

A Point Better Than A Loss….Just

 

Manchester United are a point behind the Hammers, with a game in hand, And, Arsenal are now just two points off David Moyes’ side with a whopping three games in hand.

 

So, whilst West Ham are still in a Champions League spot, their position is far from secure, and they will have to rely on others dropping points in order to play in Europe’s highest competition next year.

 

 

The Teams

 

Leicester 

 

• 1 Schmeichel
• 21 Ricardo Pereira Booked at 18 mins
• 18 Amartey
• 4 Söyüncü
• 2 Justin Substituted for Thomas at 31′ minutes
• 8 Tielemans Substituted for Vestergaardat 89′ minutes
• 25 Ndidi
• 22 Dewsbury-Hall
• 10 Maddison Substituted for Lookman at 73′ minutes
• 29 Daka
• 7 Barnes

 

West Ham

 

• 1 Fabianski
• 5 Coufal Substituted forFredericks at 67′ minutes
• 15 Dawson
• 23 Diop
• 3 Cresswell Booked at 60 mins
• 28 Soucek
• 41 Rice Booked at 61 mins
• 20 Bowen
• 10 Lanzini Substituted for Benrahma at 79′ minutes
• 8 Fornals Substituted for Vlasic at 79′ minutes
• 9 Antonio

This article first appeared on London Local News