Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer at PGMOL, reportedly believes that West Ham United were wrongly awarded a stoppage-time penalty in their dramatic win against Manchester United last month.
United wasted a host of chances in the first half at the London Stadium before Crysencio Summerville came off the bench to make the visitors pay in the second half.
Casemiro rapidly equalised with a reaction header, setting up a nail-biting finale, which ultimately served up an explosive outcome.
Referee David Coote waved away half-hearted cries from home supporters after a 90th-minute coming together between Matthijs de Ligt and Danny Ings inside the penalty box.
West Ham players hardly appealed Coote’s decision before he received a recommendation from VAR Michael Oliver to review the incident on the pitchside monitor.
After a lengthy look at several replays, suggesting the referee was far from convinced about his higher-up’s opinion, he surprisingly performed a U-turn, pointing to the spot.
Andre Onana dived the right way, but Bowen’s low penalty was too powerful to stop, earning a 2-1 triumph that condemned Ten Hag to the sack a day later.
According to The Times, Webb believes Oliver made an error by recommending that Coote award the Hammers a penalty.
Webb is expected to discuss the damaging decision further during his next appearance on Mic’d Up – a programme where he discusses different contentious referee calls – next week.
The report adds that the Key Match Incidents panel – an independent group that analyses major decisions in Premier League matches – agree that Oliver and Coote made a mistake.
United staff, including Ten Hag, were unsurprisingly incensed at the late decision that resulted in a fourth league defeat this season.
It came less than a month after United captain Bruno Fernandes was wrongly shown a red card in the first half of a 3-0 defeat to Tottenham in September.
While the Red Devils trailed 1-0 at Old Trafford, Fernandes was sent off for a challenge on James Maddison.
However, the FA later lifted the 30-year-old midfielder’s three-match ban after United appealed on the grounds of wrongful dismissal.
Webb also admitted that VAR failed to intervene in that situation despite claiming that such mistakes were down 80 per cent this season.
Ten Hag was destined for a dismissal regardless of the outcome at West Ham, but the Dutchman would have every right to feel let down by Premier League officials.
