West Ham experienced frustration during their 1-1 draw with Aston Villa, as VAR intervened twice to disallow potential game-winning goals. Tomas Soucek’s late goal was ruled out, following an earlier disallowed goal by Michail Antonio due to handball. Manager David Moyes expressed disappointment with the decisions, citing similar incidents in recent matches.
“We’ve had two calls this week,” Moyes lamented. “One against Freiburg in midweek [in the Europa League] didn’t go our way. We’ve had four handballs this week that didn’t go for us. It’s what VAR do, it’s their decision not ours, we can’t do anything about it. It’s there to do the job.”
Despite the contentious decisions, Moyes acknowledged Villa’s strong performance and the challenges they posed. “In the second half, Villa stepped it up, they were the better team for periods,” he admitted. “I was really pleased with how we performed overall.”
The draw leaves West Ham with mixed feelings, as they were denied a potential victory by VAR rulings. However, Moyes remains focused on the positives of his team’s performance and looks ahead to their next challenges.