Keith Hackett baffled by West Ham v Fulham incident, calls for PGMOL action
West Ham had a goal ruled out against Fulham and it has confirmed that the PGMOL quickly needs to act, says Keith Hackett.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that the two-minute delay to the game was unnecessary from match officials and semi-automated offsides are required as soon as possible.
The Whites saw their European hopes take a massive blow after they lost at the London Stadium 3-2, despite dominating the early stages of the match.
New Hammers manager, Graham Potter, saw his side take the lead from a curling Carlos Soler strike on the 31st minute, and Tomas Soucek doubled their lead only two minutes later.
Fulham got a goal back from a fortuitous Alex Iwobi cross, before an awful piece of goalkeeping from Bernd Leno saw West Ham restore their two-goal lead.
Iwobi then freakishly saw another cross go into the back of the net without an attacker making contact with the ball.
West Ham goal show up VAR
West Ham had the ball in the back of the net after 26 minutes through a Maximilian Kilman header, but the goal was disallowed by VAR.
Whilst it was the correct decision, it took over two minutes for the VAR official Stuart Attwell to come to the conclusion that the goal should not stand.
The former PGMOL chief took issue with the length of time it took to make the decision, despite it being a fairly cut-and-dry decision.
Hackett said: “It is difficult to understand why this offside decision took two minutes. We witnessed in the Tamworth v Spurs game a much more complicated offside decision given in a matter of seconds without VAR.
“This 2 minute delay further begs the question – When are the PGMOL going to introduce the semi-automated offside system?”
Despite his sides victory, Potter will still be looking to improve his side in the January transfer window with the club linked to Brighton striker Evan Ferguson.
Potter may have also been given a major boost on the return of Jarrod Bowen, the English attacker dropped a hint about his fitness after breaking his foot against Liverpool.
In other news, West Ham have set their sites on three strikers this January.
For more West Ham and exclusive news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.