Former Premier League referee Peter Walton believes West Ham United should have had a penalty in the first half of their game against Manchester United, following an alleged handball by Victor Lindelof.
United endured a torrid opening 45 minutes at the London Stadium, with David De Gea's horrible mistake allowing a weak shot from Said Benrahma to trickle in and make it 1-0 to the home side. The Reds enjoyed the majority of possession but may have counted themselves fortunate not to have gone in further behind.
There were massive claims for a spot-kick towards the end of the first half when Benrahma's cross seemed to strike the arm of Lindelof. The Sweden international was far enough away to react and, despite his arm being close to his body, did seem to move it towards the ball.
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The Hammers players and David Moyes were evidently livid with the decision and the subsequent failure of VAR to order a review of the incident. And Walton believes such a call would have led to a spot-kick.
"On first reflection, I looked at it and thought the arm was in his body line so he hadn’t made himself bigger," he told BT Sport at half-time. "When you look at it again, there’s clear movement of the arm towards the ball. That is an offence and should have been given.
"The VAR should have given referee Peter Banks every opportunity to have another look at it. It’s a penalty kick. That (arm movement) is the evidence that is required to give the decision so for me a penalty kick."
Rio Ferdinand was among the pundits on duty and the former United defender agreed with Walton that the Reds were fortunate not to have conceded the penalty.
"We all shouted handball immediately," Ferdinand added. "It was right in front of us and you see his arm move towards the ball straight away, as soon as the ball comes in. I don't know how the referee hasn’t been told to go over and look at it because I think it's that much of an obvious handball."
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