PGMOL boss shares official decision on the tricky VAR moment in West Ham vs Arsenal game
Howard Webb, the Chief Refereeing Officer of Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), has shared his official opinion on the controversial VAR decision that disallowed West Ham’s late goal, giving Arsenal a 1–0 win at the London Stadium.
On Sunday, May 10, Leandro Trossard’s goal in the 83rd minute helped Arsenal go five points ahead of Manchester City in the Premier League, with just two games left to play.
The match was full of drama. In stoppage time, West Ham’s substitute Callum Wilson thought he had scored an equalizer, but the goal was ruled out for a foul on Arsenal’s goalkeeper, David Raya, by Pablo. Referee Chris Kavanagh was advised by VAR Darren England to check the monitor on the side of the pitch before making the final decision in Arsenal’s favor.
Arsenal’s head coach Mikel Arteta praised the referee’s courage after the game, while West Ham’s boss, Nuno Espírito Santo, was less happy and said referees tend to “confuse themselves” when making important VAR calls.
Some experts, like Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney, supported the referee’s decision, but former Premier League goalkeepers Shay Given and Peter Schmeichel disagreed and criticized it.
Now, Webb has explained clearly why the decision to disallow Wilson’s goal was the right one. On “Match Officials Mic’d Up,” he said the challenge on Raya was definitely a foul.
He explained, “If a goalkeeper is stopped by an opponent grabbing or holding their arms so they can’t do their job, it has to be penalized. This isn’t just any contact—it’s when the goalkeeper’s arms or hands are interfered with, stopping them from catching or punching the ball. That’s what happened with Raya, and the officials made the right call.”
Audio from the footage showed that other possible fouls were looked at, but Webb made it clear the main contact was on the goalkeeper and that was the key reason for the decision.
Arsenal will play next at home against Burnley on May 18.