Jarrod Bowen was adjudged to have kept the ball in play for West Ham’s opening goal against Arsenal (Pictures: beIN Sport)
A new camera angled has definitely proved whether West Ham’s opening goal against Arsenal should have counted.
The Hammers enjoyed their first win at the Emirates Stadium since 2015 and were able to laud it over their former captain Declan Rice, who endured a night to forget as the Gunners’ title hopes were dealt a damaging blow.
Arsenal were, meanwhile, left with a sense of de ja vu given the nature of Tomas Soucek’s 13th minute goal, which came after Jarrod Bowen appeared to have poked the ball back to him once it had gone out of play.
Newcastle scored their winning goal against Arsenal last month from an almost identical scenario, after which Joe Willock confessed to his former teammates that the ball had gone over the byline.
On this occasion, however, beIN Sport claim that a sliver of the ball was still the right side of the line, as far as West Ham are concerned, and the match officials were correct to let the goal stand.
‘You could see some of the ball so we could then make the ball exactly the size it should be in the footage and it proved conclusively (it was in),’ explained Andy Gray.
‘I guess when you see that and how much of the ball was actually over the line it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Jarrod Bowen thinks it’s out.
A sliver of the ball was still in play according to technology used by beIN Sport
‘He wouldn’t know it was a tiny, tiny bit over the line.
‘It was easier to judge the Newcastle one because the ball was on the ground and the line was beside the football.
‘This one the ball is in the air and that’s what makes it more difficult to judge with the naked eye.’
Bowen, who was at the centre of the incident, himself, admitted he had no idea whether or not the goal should have stood but was relieved the decision went in favour of his team.
He said: ‘Listen, when it happened in a split-second I knew the ball was in midair so it’s probably hard to tell at the time.
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‘Obviously you don’t want it to go out, so you try to keep it in play quickly and, like I said, it’s difficult and I haven’t seen it, but I was there at the time and it’s one of those where because the ball was in the air it was hard to tell.
‘If it had been on the ground it would probably have been easier to tell.
‘All I could do was try and get it across to Tom or Mo [Kudus] and the goal was scored and it stood, so it was really, really important to get that first goal.’
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Definitive proof, at last!