FULHAM 0 WET
WEST HAM 0
FULHAM WEST HAM 2 ............. Shots on Target ............ 1 12 ............ Shots off Target ........... 6 6 ............... Blocked Shots ............. 1 7 ..................... Corners ................... 3 11 ........................ Fouls ................... 10 1 ...................... Offsides .................. 4 1 .................. Yellow Cards .............. 3 0 ................... Red Cards ................. 1 84.1 ..... Passing Success %...72.3 42 ................. Duels Won ............. 49 46.2 ....... Duel Success % ..... 53.8 13 ..................... Tackles ................... 9 76.9 ......... Tackles Won % ...... 66.7 60.8 ......... Possession % ........ 39.2 47.6 ....... Territorial Adv % .... 52.4 548 ............ Total Passes ......... 350 18 ............... Total Crosses ............ 15 132 ................ Lost Balls .............. 141 62 ................ Recoveries ............. 58 60.5 ........ 1st Half Poss % ...... 39.5 61.1 ......... 2nd Half Poss % ..... 38.9
Mike Dean 5
DAVID MOYES was left shaking his head in disbelief — so, too, his prolific Czech ace Tomas Soucek.
Not because high-flying West Ham had failed to put relegation-strugglers Fulham to the sword and in the process blown their chance to go fourth.
No, Moyes and Soucek’s confused dismay centered on the red card shown to the West Ham midfielder for violent conduct in added-time.
Sent to the VAR monitor by Stockley Park official Lee Mason, referee Mike Dean somehow concluded Soucek deliberately elbowed Aleksandar Mitrovic in the face while jostling before a free-kick.
It seemed a ridiculous call from the same official who wrongly sent off Southampton’s Jan
Bednarek at Old
Trafford last week.
That was overturned on appeal and you imagine the same will be the case with this dismissal. Even Mitrovic seemed to tell Dean it was an accident.
Afterwards fuming Moyes said: “It was an embarrassing decision. I’m amazed Mike Dean did something with it.
“It was an accident. I don’t think you’ll find any manager in football who is convinced by the VAR system.”
West Ham are now just one point behind fourthplace Liverpool. However, they have played a game more and, on this evidence, talk of gatecrashing the