Frustrated West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo felt his side were denied a crucial Premier League victory over Brighton after two VAR errors.
Jorginho Rutter struck in stoppage time to earn the Seagulls a 1-1 draw after Jarrod Bowen had put West Ham ahead.
After referee Simon Hooper awarded the goal, Tony Harrington’s VAR reviewed Rutter’s handball.
There also appeared to be a clear high boot on the head of Konstantinos Mavropanos as he jumped to clear the ball, by Brighton’s Charalampos Kostoulas.
“It doesn’t seem like it, obviously,” Nuno said. I saw it, everyone saw it. We cannot understand how they scored.
VAR saw it, everyone saw it. I think both positions should be investigated.
“It’s hard, man, it’s really hard to take, especially after the hard work of the lads, the support of our fans that makes it feel like we’re in London.
“Then there’s a situation that many people find difficult to get.
We believe, we believe that this is the best league in the world.
Not much to say, I want to apologize. It’s hard to talk when a group of players are so frustrated. We are in a difficult position.
“This game was worth a lot for us. The boys worked really hard. It’s hard to go back to London with a point.”
The Premier League confirmed that VAR “presumes that Rutter’s arm was in a natural position and that he did not deliberately control the ball and that the contact with the arm did not immediately precede his goal.”
This is despite the fact that the high boots were not considered dangerous by the officials of the game.
“If Dinos (Mauropanos) stood on the ground, maybe,” Nuno added. “But there’s a call on his head, isn’t there?”
Bowen gave West Ham the lead in the 73rd minute with an incredible goal that was originally a tackle.
He took the ball away from Seagulls defender Freddy Kadioglu, and headed it past goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen and into the net in one move.
It was a goal that would have almost guaranteed victory and would have lifted West Ham out of the relegation zone on goals scored before Rutter’s late controversial equaliser.
“Disappointing result for us,” said team boss Fabian Hörzler. We wanted more, we didn’t deserve more, especially after the first half.
We had no energy, no intensity, no joy, no connection.
We started playing football when we conceded the goal, the reaction was good, but overall – especially the first half – we can’t be happy.
