Maxwel Cornet’s Disallowed Goal Robs West Ham of a Point

West Ham United was denied a point at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea when referee Andrew Madley disallowed Maxwel Cornet 90th minute goal.

The Hammers were leading the match from the 62nd minute when Michail Antonio bundled the ball in from a corner.

Ben Chilwell equalised from a tight angle in the 76th minute before Kai Havertz gave them the lead in the 88th minute, late in the second half, leaving many to believe it was the winning goals.

Cornet who had hit the post just before Chelsea’s equaliser had thought he had rescued a point as he fired in late on. However, VAR sent Madley to the monitor to look at a coming together between Édouard Mendy and Jarrod Bowen in the build-up to the goal.

The replays showed Mendy, after parrying the ball away, was clipped by the toe of Bowen and when seeing that the ball fell to Cornet who was about to score made an absolute meal of being touched by Bowen.

Madley disallowed the goal and the Blues took all three points. Hammers players and manager David Moyes were absolutely furious at full-time and let the referee know about it.

There was a similar incident in the game when Reece James’s studs caught Michail Antonio. However, this went unpunished.

Something needs to change as VAR failed here

Often when VAR sends the referees over to the monitors to look at their decision the result is inevitable. They doubt themselves and overturn their decision.

They need to be stronger and stick to their guns in decisions like this otherwise they will keep becoming the talking points when a fiercely contested London derby should be. VAR was brought in to help referees make clear and obvious decisions and it failed to do so here.

What Did West Ham Manager Moyes Have to Say?

"You have seen it, it is a scandalous decision, absolutely rotten from one of the supposedly elite referees – it doesn’t say much about whoever sent him over from VAR as well – it is an unbelievable decision against us.We feel we got back to 2-2 and it was not down to anything we have done. I support a lot of the VAR stuff, I actually think the goalkeeper dives, he is faking an injury because he cannot get to the next one – he did the same on the first goal as well. The referee somehow gets that so wrong it is incredible."

Where does this Result Leave the Teams?

Chelsea gets the win after losing to Southampton on Tuesday and moves them up to 5th in the table. It was a vital three points for Thomas Tuchel whose side has already lost twice in the league.

They face Dinamo Zagreb in their first Champions League game on Tuesday night and then play Fulham in a West London derby on Saturday in the Premier League.

West Ham is also in European action this week as they come up against the Romanian side FCSB in the Europa Conference League on Thursday night. They are now 18th in the league and come up against Newcastle on Sunday for Matchday 7.