West Ham United: Alan Shearer assesses red card incident in Chelsea defeat

Former Premier League star Alan Shearer has been sharing his thoughts on the red card decision during West Ham United’s recent 1-0 defeat against Chelsea in the Premier League. 

This comes after Shearer made an appearance on Saturday’s edition of Match of the Day where he reflected on the day’s Premier League games, including the Hammers’ weekend clash at the London Stadium.

On the subject of Chris Kavanagh’s decision to award Fabian Balbuena a red card for a collision with Ben Chilwell’s leg after he passed the ball forward, which led to the VAR official Peter Bankes urging the on-field referee to review the incident on the pitchside monitor, Shearer had this to say on the matter.

He said: “Where is he meant to put his foot there?

“What I would say about this is, Chris Kavanagh, the on-field referee, he’s got to get that right. Then Peter Bankes tells him ‘you should go to the screen and have a look at it.’

“You should just say ‘no, I’m not having that, I’m not accepting that that is a red card, Peter Bankes, forget it.’

“It’s never, ever been a red card.”

Chelsea took the lead in the first half of the game through Timo Werner, which ended up being the winning goal of the game with David Moyes’ side unable to break through the Blues defence.

TIF Thoughts on Alan Shearer’s comments on Balbuena’s red card…

Given how Moyes said in his post-match interview that the decision to send Balbuena off was a “poor” one and that the decision was made by “someone who’s never played the game,” it’s safe to say that he shares the same view as Shearer that this incident was not deserving of a red card for the Hammers defender.

Also, given how West Ham saw Craig Dawson sent off in their previous Premier League match against Newcastle United prior to the Chelsea game, it would be safe to assume that Moyes probably feels frustrated with the officials at this moment in time – though may be hopeful of having a successful appeal over this one.

In other news: Concerning claim emerges on Jesse Lingard at West Ham