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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Will Lancaster

David Moyes reveals West Ham VAR crunch talks with ref chiefs as fury rages on after Liverpool handball rejection

West Ham manager David Moyes says he has spoken to PGMOL about the decision which robbed his side of the chance to equalise late on against Liverpool on Wednesday to leave the Hammers in the relegation battle.

Spanish midfielder Thiago Alcantara appeared to handle the ball twice in one movement in the dying embers of the Reds' trip down to the London Stadium earlier this week, and with the score standing at 2-1 to Jurgen Klopp 's men, a penalty would've almost certainly changed the dynamic of the game with such little time remaining.

Moyes was unhappy with the turn of events, with referee Chris Kavanagh failing to go over and check the VAR screen in what could've had big implications at both ends of the table. Maxwel Cornet had a goal ruled out for a last-minute equaliser at Chelsea back in September, with the Premier League formally apologising to the Irons over the incident - both of which have now further hampered their chances of survival. And Moyes told reporters he had spoken to PGMOL head Howard Webb about Wednesday's decision in a tightlipped manner.

Moyes bluntly said: "I've spoken to Howard Webb and his team, I have done...so, yeah. The conversation was private and it will remain that way."

The former Manchester United manager had previously shown his frustration at how VAR operated and demanded an apology from refereeing chiefs earlier this week following the incident, saying: "VAR, for me, showed no respect whatsoever to us.

"You'll probably hear them coming out with some rubbish about he needed to break his fall, but if you lunge, it's your own fault for lunging and being out of control in the tackle.

"When you lunge for the ball, that completely nullifies anything they're saying about breaking your fall. I think it's a penalty kick.

"The hardest thing to take is the disrespect from VAR, that VAR wouldn't have at least said to the referee that this might be worth having a look. That tells me they don't see that as even close to a decision. I'm surprised. Somebody in VAR didn't have enough football knowledge to understand that this could be close."

It's the latest decision in the Premier League VAR saga which saw John Stones perhaps controversially awarded a goal for his header in Manchester City's 4-1 demolition of Arsenal on the same evening.

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