Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright agrees with David Moyes that West Ham United should have been awarded a penalty against Liverpool, but Alan Shearer says it wasn’t handball.
The Hammers were denied a late penalty during their 2-1 defeat against Jurgen Klopp’s Reds at the London Stadium on Wednesday night.
Lucas Paqueta put the home side in front but his effort was cancelled out mere minutes later by Cody Gakpo. Joel Matip’s second-half header put Liverpool in front before the controversial incident that led to Moyes approaching referee Chris Kavanagh for an explanation at full-time.
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Thiago lunged in to win the ball from Danny Ings inside the box, only for it to strike his arm as he slid in. However, VAR official Neil Swarbrick did not call Kavanagh over to the monitor to take another look at the incident, with Moyes saying his side felt “disrespected” by the decision.
But Match of the Day pundit and Newcastle United legend Shearer disagreed, saying: “I’ve got great respect for David Moyes but I don’t agree with him on this one. I don’t think it’s handball.
“Thiago, there’s nothing he can do about it, he’s breaking his fall. No, that isn’t handball for me. I know [Moyes is] under pressure and he’s unhappy about the result.”
Moyes said in his post-match press conference that Thiago made the decision to lunge in and therefore the excuse of breaking his fall with the arm the ball had struck would be a “rubbish” one.
And Wright agreed with the Hammers boss. He said: “I think Moyes has got a point simply because [Thiago] is lunging at it. He’s lunging, he’s out of control and it has hit his arm. I’m going to have to go with Moyes on that one.”
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