West Ham’s match-winning penalty which led to Erik ten Hag’s sacking should not have been awarded, according to Howard Webb.
The Dutchman was axed following Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat at the London Stadium on October 27 – and a costly refereeing call may have contributed to that.
The Times claim that the PGMOL’s chief refereeing officer Webb insists the decision to grant the Hammers an added-time spot-kick was the incorrect call.
Jarrod Bowen kept his cool to convert from 12 yards to hand Julen Lopetegui’s men the vital three points.
The result turned out to be the final straw for Ten Hag who was sacked as United manager the following day, with the Red Devils on a run of one win in eight and slumped in 14th place.
On-field referee David Coote did not initially see anything relating to an infringement after a coming together between Matthijs de Ligt and Danny Ings.
Coote was subsequently called to the pitchside monitor by assistant referee Michael Oliver to take a closer look at the incident.
The penalty was awarded after a delay of over two minutes, to the dismay of De Ligt and Ten Hag,
The decision was the final nail in the coffin of the ex-Ajax boss, who may have continued in the role for a little while longer if Coote hadn’t awarded the penalty.
Webb is understood to have spoken out on the decision and is expected to make reference to it on next week’s episode of Mic’d Up, although a running order for the show is yet to be finalised.
The show shines a light on contentious refereeing decisions from previous Premier League matches.
The Key Match Incidents panel, who are an independent group that looks at big officiating Premier League decisions, is believed to have also judged the decision to be wrong.
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Following the game at the London Stadium, Ten Hag claimed his side were victims of injustice.
“So, first of all in football the best team does not always win, today that was clear and obvious,“ he told his post-match press conference.
“But clear and obvious was not the way the VAR worked. Before the season they explained the process of the VAR, and only when it’s clear and obvious should they interfere.
“What they didn’t do against Spurs, when they should have done it, to interfere with the red card for Bruno, and now they make the wrong decision interfering, and both have a big impact on the scores of the games.
“I’m not criticising any person, I criticise the process. It had a big impact on the score. The other impact was that we didn’t score.”
In an attempt to explain the controversial penalty decision, the Premier League Match Centre posted on social media: “The referee did not award a penalty to West Ham for a challenge by De Ligt on Ings.
“The VAR deemed there was sufficient contact on Ings’ lower leg and recommended an on-field review.
“The referee overturned his original decision and awarded a penalty.”