West Ham United’s late equaliser against Arsenal on Sunday was correctly disallowed by the referee and VAR, says former Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney.
Callum Wilson scored in stoppage time to salvage a point at London Stadium but referee Chris Kavanagh overturned his on-field decision after being sent to the monitor by VAR, judging that Hammers forward Pablo had fouled Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya as he attempted to collect a corner-kick.
“It’s a clear foul I think,” Rooney said on The Wayne Rooney Show.
“A lot of people say it probably should have stood and because it’s controversial, Manchester City players, staff and fans are going to say it should have stood and then the Tottenham fans, staff and players saying it shouldn’t have stood.
“But it’s a clear foul, you can clearly see his [Pablo’s] arm across his [Raya’s] face, and it impacted him getting to the ball so, I think it’s the right decision.”
Arsenal’s victory meant they went five points clear of City in the Premier League title race while West Ham stay in the relegation zone, a point behind Tottenham.
Rooney added: “It’s the one time I actually think VAR’s done a really good job in such an important game. I didn’t think it was a hard decision – I think it was a simple decision and I get the importance of it but you can’t take that into account, you’ve just got to take it for what it is and it’s a foul.”
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