Jarrod Bowen stood over the ball by the corner flag. There was so much going on in the penalty area as he delivered a cross. <\/p>\n
A melee ensued before Callum Wilson blasted a shot over the line. Salvation for the Hammers? Enter the video assistant referee, Darren England.<\/p>\n
You cannot blame the VAR for taking his time. This was such a huge moment with five potential fouls buried among the bodies. <\/p>\n
Whatever decision England made was going to be the subject of intense scrutiny. <\/p>\n
Let’s break it down step-by-step, consider the potential fouls and what the VAR would be looking for. <\/p>\n
Soucek on Havertz<\/p>\n
In the chronology of fouls, this was the first potential incident. <\/p>\n
The two players were at the near post, with Kai Havertz in front facing the ball. Tomas Soucek was climbing over the back of the Germany international. <\/p>\n
As the ball was in the air, the Arsenal<\/a> forward ended up on the floor with Soucek on top of him.<\/p>\n The VAR will take into account that the players were not in the area where the ball was going to land – Havertz was not going to be prevented from playing it.<\/p>\n That Soucek was facing the ball goes in his favour, too.<\/p>\n All in all, the VAR would have allowed this to go.<\/p>\n Odegaard on Tobido<\/p>\n A straight-forward situation to judge. <\/p>\n Both Martin Odegaard and Jean-Clair Todibo were engaged in mutual holding. When this is the case no one party is judged to be committing an offence – essentially, they are both as bad as each other. <\/p>\n