West Ham United is reportedly set to lodge a complaint with the referees’ body, Professional Game Match Officials, after VAR denied it a late equaliser against Arsenal for a foul on David Raya during their Premier League 2025-26 clash on Sunday.
Relegation-threatened West Ham thought it had rescued a precious point against the league leader when Callum Wilson equalised in stoppage time after Raya had dropped the ball.
But the goal was disallowed by referee Chris Kavanagh, following a lengthy review that saw him advised to consult the pitch-side monitor, for a foul by Pablo on Reya.
The decision meant Leandro Trossard’s 82nd-minute strike eventually proved enough for Arsenal to secure a 1-0 win that took it five points clear at the top of the table and left London rival West Ham in the bottom three with just two games left to play.
West Ham was furious with the decision, and goalkeeper Mads Hermansen believes pushing and shoving at corners in the league has become a major problem.
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“If you ask any goalkeeper in the league, if he’s been illegally blocked, pulled, pushed on corners this season, I think you will not find anyone who has not experienced this,” Hermansen said.
“So, to give this (decision against West Ham), I’m not sure I understand why. Of course, we watched it afterwards, and we can see there’s shirt pulls on (Konstantinos) Mavropanos, shirt pulls on (Tomas) Soucek, even shirt pulls on Pablo before the goal. So to pick this situation,” he added.
The 25-year-old Denmark international made it clear he accepted Raya had been impeded but questioned why other similar incidents had not been penalised in the same way.
“You know, I agree it’s a foul. You can give the foul on the goalkeeper, definitely. But (with) what has been given during this season of goals with illegal blocks, illegal pulls, and pushing and stuff on goalkeepers, I don’t understand why that’s been given. That’s all,” Hermansen said.
“I spoke with David after the game, and I think we have had the same experience on this matter during this season. Because, of course, he has every right to ask for a free-kick or a foul on him. But I think you can find a lot of situations during this season where it’s been different,” he noted.
Published on May 11, 2026
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