They were beaten by a Timo Werner strike in the 43rd minute but given the injury situation they find themselves in this was a courageous performance,
Balbuena – one of those who may be waving goodbye
It means of course that Chelsea have gained the edge in the battle for that Champions League spot but there’s still plenty of football to be played and this is no time to throw the towel in.
David Moyes – without suspended Craig Dawson, Declan Rice, Mikey Antonio or Aaron Cresswell played Fabian Balbuena who was desperately unlucky to be red carded when hr cleared the an 80th minute ball but caught Ben Chillwell on the follow through – an absurd decision.
The manager had also thrown Ryan Fredericks on the left side of midfield and the right back produced a quality performance at front and back.
The Hammers had a moment when Lingard nearly chipped a fine equaliser and grew into the game in the early part of the second half.
But Fabianski certainly made up for his errors of last week with two or three fine saves.
At the end of the day we remain in fifth place thanks to Newcastle holding Liverpool at Anfeld earlier in the day with winnable games to come.
Balbuena wasn’t unlucky. The referee made a terrible call that runs contrary to the laws of physics. The referee allowed Lingard to be chopped at relentlessly in the first half and to then reduce us to 10 men suggests he should find a different calling.
Outrageous.
Though we fought hard, by and large we were outplayed in many aspects of the game.
Of course the five absentees, plus the ridiculous red card did us no favour.
From memory back in 2016 when we last were on the cusp of the top four we were also thwarted by some poor refereeing decisions in our run in.
That being said, very good season thus far, chins up, shoulders back, onwards and hopefully upwards.
COYI
I think I will refrain because I can’t see courageous…imo all the drivell about false number 9 and this and that…well at the end of the day the squad just can’t cope …no options if plan a dosnt work …the gamble that we took is definitely coming back to haunt us now ….hope im wrong but we could drop now….why oh why didn’t we strengthen,,all the seasons good work could be undone……imo ….nothing on moyes before you start ,, still good job ,,…..but what could of been …shame
Two yellows for cynical thug fouls when breaking up promising goal scoring opportunities and a red for an honest clearance.
Conclusion a weak ref yet again influenced by a flawed system in VAR
Can someone with more technical ability set up a petition for all season ticket holders and members to vote for the removal of this flawed technology and shallow so called professionals who monitor it to be removed, because contrary to faceless officials who say this is here to stay should be forcibly told NOTHING IS HERE TO STAY and definitely a football destroying system and personnel ruining this great game
I felt we deserved a draw and neither side did enough to win the game. Chelsea dominated the ball in the first 25-30 mins but without cutting us open. We turned the corner and began to take control and were in control for 10-15 mins before they scored. We were the better team in the second half without troubling Chelsea so overall a good honest performance spoiled by the most ridiculous red card you will see, What gets me is how VAR asked the ref to have a look at it – the sooner we get footballers in there who have the knowledge the sooner we will get to the right decisions. The referee was weak – just an incredible decision summed up by the reaction of some of the Chelsea players – they could not believe it.
We do not have a squad strong enough to compete in Europe. We would win the odd game, but if we can’t beat the likes of Newcastle, why would we do better against much stronger teams?
When we have a couple of key injuries (e.g., Antonio), the bench has few options. We need a bigger squad and two strikers. Is there money for that? Otherwise, it is better to concentrate on being a competitive middle of the table team until we have owners with deeper pockets.
Ex Footballers will never become refs because they know what a **** job it is with players yelling at them all the time. Players are also to lazy to do the job would rather take an easier route in some far off coaching role.