Moyes furious at ‘rubbish’ red card
WEST HAM boss David Moyes accused officials of not understanding the game after Fabian Balbuena was sent off for a foul while clearing the ball.
Moyes branded as ‘rubbish’ the decision by Chris Kavanagh to red card Balbuena for catching Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell with his follow through.
Referee Kavanagh did not produce a card until being told to go to the monitor by VAR Peter Bankes — and duly flashed a red at the perplexed Hammers’ defender.
There didn’t appear to be any malice in the incident and there was widespread condemnation of the decision, especially as just minutes later Vladimir Coufal escaped any sanction for an almost identical challenge on Antonio Rudiger.
‘I think it’s a decision made by someone who’s never played the game before,’ raged Moyes. ‘Where is Balbuena meant to plant his foot? If they do think that’s a red card, the same one a few minutes later between Coufal and Rudiger is very similar. They didn’t do anything about it.
‘You have somebody who doesn’t know the game. He kicks through the ball, and not for one minute is there a bit of malice in that. It’s a rubbish decision.’
And Moyes wasn’t alone in believing
Balbuena had been on the wrong end of a poor call. Gary Lineker Tweeted: ‘How can VAR and the referee get it so wrong? It’s just baffling. Utterly baffling.’
Danny Gabbidon, the former West Ham defender analysing the match for Sky Sports, added: ‘We talk about VAR and getting ex-players involved and there are certain incidents that happen that only players can understand. I’m totally with David Moyes, it’s a poor decision.’
It isn’t the first time West Ham have been on the wrong end of a questionable VAR decision this season. Tomas Soucek was sent off for violent conduct against Fulham but had the card overturned after the FA upheld a claim for wrongful dismissal.