A cracking night at the London Stadium was almost diminished by the apparent sending off of Hammers left back Aaron Cresswell. With the result in the bag, Cressy got himself into hot water after a 'strong' challenge that left Bournemouth's Ryan Fraser writhing in agony!In all honesty, the challenge looked rash but with slow motion it was apparent that Cresswell was first to the ball. As a result, VAR official Lee Mason overturned the decision and Cresswell got off with just a yellow card.
The Hammers will need their talented left back over the next few crucial games and cannot afford to lose him so foolishly. As such, the final decision was a cause for considerable relief for Hammers fans.
However, Dermot Gallagher further considered the incident in his regular VAR review today and disagreed with the leniency of Mr Mason stating "I think it's a red card. There's speed and intent. Cresswell has little or no chance of getting the ball. He's endangered the safety of an opponent."
It seems that for once VAR has been Hammers-friendly, thus bucking a season long trend that saw the East London club as the second most unlucky side in terms of VAR decisions so far this season.
For what it's worth, we think Mr Gallagher is wrong - the shot above clearly shows Cresswell getting to the ball first and it's subsequent direction supports the notion that he won the ball.
Either way, the Hammers luck is on the up.
COYI!!!
Gallagher is the worst type of Referee to do Ref watch, he is biased towards certain clubs and he is a typical yes man with 99.9% backing of the on field referee even when it is plain the decision is wrong. He even said the Haller and Antonio push and rugby tackle wasn't a pen and the Ref and VAR got it right, the bloke is a moron of the highest order and still towing the FA line despite being employed by Sky now.
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