OPINION
West Ham finally broke their duck and got a win in the Premier League this season against a previously unbeaten Everton side – but they rode their luck for much of the clash at Goodison Park.
The Hammers saw off the Toffees 3-1 on Merseyside courtesy of a brace from Andriy Yarmalenko and a Marko Arnautovic effort, which lifts them off the foot of the table and brings a bit of a positive atmosphere to east London.
However they were by no means superior to the home side and were under threat for much of the clash, the likes of Cenk Tosun passing up gilt edged opportunities that on another day would have sank the Irons.
What they were particularly lucky with was the officiating, with former Premier League official Mark Clattenburg launching a blistering attack on the display of Arthur Masuaku after he saw himself booked for a clash with Theo Walcott in the 41st minute.
Speaking of the incident, the referee stated to the Daily Mail: “Arthur Masuaku should have been sent off for his high-boot challenge which came down on the neck of Theo Walcott, for he has clearly endangered the safety of his opponent.
“You often find that referees will wait to assess the extent of the injury before making their decision if they are unsure on the severity of the challenge. The rules state they should not – and that is why Martin Atkinson should have sent off Masuaku regardless.”
Masuaku should be counting his lucky stars after that damning assessment of his outing, and he put his team’s success at risk with such a stupid piece of play.
Like Clattenburg says, it was not a serious injury and the 24y/o got away with it but on second viewing it was quite clear to see that Walcott could have been facing a much worse injury than the one he suffered.
The left back has not been a major liability for West Ham, but this was one case where he really let his side down, and he was fortunate to escape with a fairly lenient punishment.