At a Glance:
- Arsenal won their game over West Ham after a last-minute Hammers goal was disallowed
- Gunners legend Martin Keown thinks the decision made was the right one
- Calls out Manchester United ex-keeper Peter Schmeichel for bias against Arsenal
It was not the simplest of games for Arsenal against West Ham, with a very late could-have-been equaliser for West Ham disallowed, thanks to a foul on David Raya, which, if given, would have seen the game end 1-1.
Callum Wilson thought he had scored from a corner in the 95th minute, but it was not to be—thanks to a foul from West Ham’s Pablo on Arsenal keeper David Raya that ultimately saw the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) step in and reverse the decision.
The Gunners left the London Stadium with a 1-0 victory after the final whistle, but the will-they-won’t-they nature around the decision of Wilson’s potential equaliser has led to intense discussion post-match.
Manchester United and Premier League legend Peter Schmeichel has angered Arsenal great Martin Keown with his stance on what the correct outcome should have been.
READ MORE: What Declan Rice did at full-time against West Ham will concern Arsenal fans
Any ‘fair man’ would see that David Raya was fouled, says Martin Keown
Peter Schmeichel stated on Viaplay after the conclusion of the game that “Arsenal have been blocking the opponent’s goalkeeper all season long—they would never be on top of the league if we disallow these [types of] goals!”
Martin Keown responded promptly, defending the team he made so many memories with on TalkSPORT by saying that “[Pablo is] holding his [Raya’s] arm! I’d like to think I’m a fair man; this is a just decision. What’s remarkable is that it’s a goalkeeper affected by this… if it had happened to Schmeichel, then he’d have been screaming from the rooftops that that’s a foul. If Schmeichel is still playing and he gets fouled to that degree… come on, it’s ridiculous.”
A lot of attention has been paid to this specific occasion, given that Arsenal’s game earlier in the year versus Chelsea may have ended differently if a foul, and subsequent penalty, were given for an incident involving Raya on Blues striker Joao Pedro, which involved the Spaniard putting two hands on the Brazilian.
Arsenal won that match 2-1—showing how intricate the margins are in terms of deciding decisions like these.
Peter Schmeichel is biased because he played for Arsenal’s rivals’ according to Keown
“[Schmeichel is] angry because it’s Arsenal. Did he not play for Manchester City? Did he not play for Manchester United? The current rivals and the former rivals of Arsenal. There was no disguise to the West Ham situation. There were three fouls on him.”
Club bias for ex-players of top clubs is a common perception in the modern media landscape, with Manchester United icons like Gary Neville accused of being against other top teams thanks to their team allegiance—and it seems like that is what Keown is accusing Schmeichel of here.
