By Dave Langton
VAR denied West Ham a point in what turned into a genuinely thrilling London derby against Chelsea, as the Blues won 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.
The game exploded in the second half after a dire first 45 minutes, and ended in the most dramatic circumstances.
Mikey Antonio had given the Hammers the lead and Ben Chilwell equalised, before Kai Havertz gave the home side the advantage in the 87th minute.
The Hammers went straight up the other end, though, and Reece James’ awful header back to his goalkeeper gave the Irons a chance. Jarrod Bowen sprinted through and Edouard Mendy rushed out to him to parry the ball. It only fell to Maxwel Cornet and he slammed the ball into the top corner.
It was a wonderful finish under pressure but the VAR advised the referee to watch the action on the screen, because Bowen may have fouled Mendy.
From where we were sitting, it looked as though Bowen simply stumbled and accidentally made contact with the goalkeeper, but the referee ruled that it was a foul, and denied the Hammers anything from the game.
It was a sensational game of football in the second half but it was a game that Chelsea dominated.
Nevertheless, the Irons won two corners in succession after the hour mark and Antonio scored from the second, as Mendy flapped at a corner and Declan Rice put the ball back across the six-yard box for the Jamaica international to finish.
The Hammers were resolute defensively until Ben Chilwell managed to level proceedings, getting onto the end of his own header and poking the ball between Lukasz Fabianski’s legs.
Chelsea pushed for a winner but Cornet had a huge chance to restore the Irons’ lead, only to hit the post.
And fate turned on the Irons, as the Blues went up the other end and Havertz finished off a Chilwell cross with aplomb with just three minutes left.
Cornet then scored what we all thought was the equaliser but somehow VAR managed to intervene and rob us of the kind of scenes we all deserved.
A disgraceful decision, in our book.
Mendy bottled it and then lay there selling it in hopes VAR would bail him out. As soon as the goal was overturned, he was up on his feet, clearly unhurt. He should have had a yellow for that and the goal should have stood.
Sorry Dave “a game Chelsea dominated”, they had 69% possession which means nothing as it’s what you do when you have the ball & had one extra blocked shot than us otherwise attempts at goal were the same, I think you’re really not giving the team the credit it deserves today & as for VAR just don’t get me started on that one 😡😡😡⚒⚒⚒
It was a shocking VAR decision, but showed them too much respect, look at CFC last two games, go one up and remove our no.9.Moyes is far to negative against so call big teams. Look at the players we have signed, top players, Chelsea where there for the taking. Playing long balls with the players we have signed on the pitch.. Again two keepers on the bench WHY?
One day, a scandal will break and it will involve bent referees and VAR.
When the stakes are so high, it is pretty much guaranteed that corruption is not far away and VAR is an easy no comeback way of fixing things.
Big club bias. Everything in PL football is geared to ensuring that the so called big 4 make the Champions League every season. Fixture planning, TV visibility, the fawning attitude of most commentators and pundits. It’s all part of it., and it’s all about money. Then there’s referees and VAR referees who want to survive and prosper in their jobs by pleasing the powers that be. Are they biased and are they taking bungs ? You might think that, I couldn’t possibly comment.