Plenty of West Ham United supporters may be feeling rather frustrated this morning after reviewing some footage from their most recent Premier League game.
Over the weekend, the Irons fell to a 3-1 away defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. The result comes just days after the Hammers’ heroic Europa League display in midweek, so grabbing a result this weekend away from home was always going to be a big ask.
After an own goal from Kurt Zouma put Spurs in front, Son Heung-min doubled his side’s lead. Said Benrahma pulled one back before half-time, but in the closing stages of the match, Son then scored again to seal the win.
However, while the game was undecided with the score at 2-1 after 52 minutes, one incident will surely have West Ham fans questioning the officials.
Indeed, in footage shared to Twitter (originally from Sky Sports), Son drops to the ground after being hit lightly with the ball by Zouma and Tottenham left-back Sergio Reguilon races towards the Frenchman in anger. Aaron Cresswell attempts to calm the situation by pulling the defender away from his teammate, only for Reguilon to slap him in the face.
Although the slap is pretty soft and Cresswell stays on his feet, it was certainly the sort of behaviour that could have led to more serious punishment.
TIF Thoughts on the incident and West Ham…
In the end, no card was even shown to Reguilon for his slap, with the referee presumably missing the incident and the VAR choosing not to intervene in the situation.
While it may have been harsh to send the player off for the slap, this sort of action has resulted in a red card before. Indeed, Manchester United’s Anthony Martial was dismissed after he slapped Spurs’ Erik Lamela in a similar fashion last season.
Did Sergio Reguilon deserve a red card for his slap on Aaron Cresswell?
Yes
No
Taking that into account, it would be fair for some West Ham fans to be feeling aggrieved right now, especially as that could have been a turning point in the match.
As it is, their team are now left three points behind Tottenham as the hunt for a spot in Europe next season.
In other news: Insider hints at ‘issue’ involving Moyes & 26 y/o behind-scenes at West Ham