MOYES IN A RAGE AFTER DUBIOUS LEVELLER
IN A few days, the Video Assistant Referee arrives for the upcoming FA Cup matches. After a match such as this, their arrival cannot come soon enough. West Ham manager David Moyes was certain that referee Bobby Madley went against the decision of his assistant Simon Long and awarded Bournemouth an equaliser in injury time. Moyes admitted to being left mystified as to how Madley and Long came to the conclusion to award Callum Wilson’s effort. Marko Arnautovic’s double in the last ten minutes earned West Ham a 3-2 lead, only for Wilson to bundle home Nathan Ake’s header. West Ham were adamant that Cherries striker Wilson had brushed the ball home with his arm, while assistant referee Long raised his flag sparking a debate with Madley that ended with the goal being awarded. ‘When the linesman’s flag goes up, you think: “We’ve got out of jail there a bit”,’ said Moyes. ‘But to overrule the linesman’s decision, I couldn’t believe it. ‘I think you could question the offside, because it looks pretty level. But what you can’t do is question that the Bournemouth player (Wilson) put it in with the top of his arm. ‘When I saw the commotion, I thought that there was no way he (Madley) would overturn it.’ Dan Gosling and Ake had Bournemouth hoping for a 2-1 win after James Collins had opened the scoring for West Ham. Austria forward Arnautovic bagged two goals in eight minutes to turn the tide late on, though, the first courtesy of a costly slip from home goalkeeper Asmir Begovic. Hammers manager Moyes kept his cool when assessing referee Madley’s performance, but hit out at the officials for awarding Wilson’s leveller. ‘I think he said the assistant referee only put his flag up to draw attention to it, and I’ve never heard of that,’ said Moyes, who confronted Madley on the field at full-time. ‘You could say that it was offside, but I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt. ‘I can’t give the benefit of the doubt for their player raising his hand.’ Bournemouth captain Simon Francis caught Cheikhou Kouyate in the face with a high foot and escaped with a yellow card, but Moyes felt that decision was overly lenient. Moyes continued: ‘I think in any other country in the world that would have been a sending off today.’