Southampton 0-1 West Ham: Premier League – Three Match Takeaways

It could have been worse but for the referee and VAR

Many a joke has been made on social media about VAR being Southampton’s player of the season (apologies Danny Ings!). Whilst the technology should have a part to play in football’s future, VAR did itself no favours by generously adjudging that Jan Bednarek had not hauled down former Saint, Michail Antonio. Simultaneously as part of the same passage of play, the Hammers also appealed that Haller had been pushed by Bertrand.

Both pleas fell on deaf hears; the latter probably correctly but from the replays shown, it is almost incomprehensible that the foul by Bednarek was not given. There were also let offs for the home side in the shape of two disallowed West Ham goals, with one coming just seconds into the match.

Referee Martin Atkinson did little to enamour himself to either side with poor decisions going both ways. He blew for a soft foul just milliseconds before Ings unleashed a rocket into the top right hand corner of the West Ham goal. Conversely, there were other decisions which incorrectly went Southampton’s way, including Atkinson’s tendency to fall for some occasional theatrics from the home side.

The Premier League need to take the opportunity to review technology’s involvement in the game. When used correctly as with the Antonio handball, it is an asset but the lack of transparency and accountability when it goes wrong (as with the Bednarek foul), only alienates the fans further.