West Ham boss David Moyes frustrated with VAR delays after crucial Ollie Watkins decision ‘took forever’

West Ham held on to beat Aston Villa after Ollie Watkins’ late equaliser was ruled out by VAR
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George Flood30 November 2020

West Ham boss David Moyes believes it was the correct decision to rule out Aston Villa’s late equaliser at London Stadium, though was frustrated that it took so long for a call to be made.

After smashing a penalty against the crossbar, Ollie Watkins thought he had secured redemption and rescued a last-gasp point for Villa at the London Stadium on Monday night after getting in front of Angelo Ogbonna - who appeared to be pulling back the former Brentford forward - to sidefoot home Matt Targett’s pinpoint cross in stoppage time.

However, the effort was subject to a lengthy VAR review and eventually chalked off for the narrowest of offsides, leaving below-par West Ham to breathe a sigh of relief after they just about held on to seal a third successive win to take them up to fifth in the Premier League.

Despite the debate over a potential foul from Ogbonna, Moyes believes the right call was made - though was not impressed with how long both sides were left waiting for a final decision from Stockley Park.

"We want them to get it right if they're going to do it, but we want it to be done a bit quicker, it took forever," Moyes said.

"I don't know why it took so long. I've had one quick glance at it and it looked offside to me when it happened. If they were looking for something else I don't know.

"Those small things went for us tonight. They missed a penalty kick, the goal decision went for us, so we'll take what we get and move on." 

Despite going ahead with their earliest Premier League goal for four years through Ogbonna, West Ham hardly impressed on Monday, though showed good resilience to fight back from Jack Grealish’s deflected equaliser and edge ahead again straight after the interval as half-time substitute Said Benrahma teed up Jarrod Bowen for a decisive header.

And while Moyes knows his side were some way off their best against Villa, he was nonetheless pleased with their battling qualities.

"We played against a good Aston Villa team, they've beaten Liverpool and Arsenal, they're unbeaten away from home," he added.

"So I think we showed a bit of resilience in making sure we got the three points. Villa made it difficult.

"We started well but never got a grip of the game at all. But the resilience the players showed to stick at it was really important."