Graham Potter sarcastically congratulated Tomas Soucek for a “good save” after the West Ham midfielder avoided conceding a late penalty during his side’s gritty 1-1 draw with Chelsea at the London Stadium.
Chelsea, whose hopes of qualifying for the Champions League are fading after a run of two wins from 13 games, were aggrieved after Soucek pushed away a shot from Conor Gallagher in the dying stages. Craig Pawson, the referee, decided to play on and there was surprise the VAR did not have a longer look at the incident.
“It was a good save,” Potter said. “You need your goalkeeper sometimes to give you the points. It looks like one of those that if it was given it wouldn’t have been overturned, but obviously it wasn’t given.
“You have to earn your luck. We can’t complain or wait for luck to turn for us, we have to keep working. It looked quite a handball and, like I said, I didn’t know Tomas could get down so easily and save like that.”
There was little fury from Chelsea’s head coach. “That’s life,” he said during his interview with BT Sport. He was later asked if he wanted more consistency from VAR. “You won’t [get that] because they are human beings,” Potter said. “Every single decision and action, you won’t get the same one again, so it’s very hard to get consistency.”
David Moyes, who was concerned after Nayef Aguerd and Lucas Paquetá went off injured, claimed not to have seen Soucek’s handball. West Ham, who are battling against relegation, had fought back after falling behind when João Félix scored his first goal for Chelsea. They earned a point thanks to Emerson Palmieri’s equaliser.
Chelsea, who spent heavily on eight new players in January, could not find a winner. But Potter was encouraged by his side’s display. “I felt today was a step forward,” he said. “We’ve had a good training week, but when it’s not reflected in three points there’s always stuff you can do better.”
Potter defended Marc Cucurella after Chelsea’s fans jeered the left-back after his substitution in the second half. “Supporters are entitled to their opinion,” he said. “They just want the team to do well. I don’t think Marc is in his absolute best moment but at the same time he has been part of a team that has kept a clean sheet at Anfield and against Fulham.”
