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West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek labels late Nottingham Forest penalty 'a joke'
It's fair to say that Tomas Soucek disagrees with the officials' decision to award a late penalty to Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.
Forest claimed a 2-1 victory over Soucek's West Ham United at London Stadium, with Morgan Gibbs-White's 89th-minute penalty kick securing the three points for the visitors.
Gibbs-White stepped up to the penalty spot and coolly slotted the ball past West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, who moments earlier was judged by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to have fouled the Forest attacker.
However, Soucek believes the referees got the call wrong.
"For me it is a joke," Soucek told Sky Sports immediately after the match. "I just saw it again and I think we can have 20 penalties per game if it is like that.
"I came to the Premier League because I thought it was the toughest league in the world and we are all fighters and warriors, but this looks more like basketball when you can't touch the player. This is what I saw."
The incident leading up to the penalty caused confusion on both sides, as Gibbs-White stated after the match that he had been "whacked in the face" by someone but didn't know who.
Soucek believes Areola was making a legitimate play as a goalkeeper and should have been given more leeway by the officials.
"He came for the ball, I think I cleared it and that was already out," he said. "We didn't know why there was VAR and then the penalty, so it was tough for all of us."
The result was made worse for the Hammers as a victory against Forest would have brought the London side within a point of the 17th-place Tricky Trees. Instead, the defeat means Forest pulled even further away from West Ham, who have failed to win in 10 Premier League matches and now sit seven points from safety.
It's a tough pill to swallow given the combative nature of the match, but Soucek said his team cannot afford to lose faith with 17 matches still left to play.
"I know our position," the 30-year-old said. "This is not anymore time for nice words. We have so many games but we have to do it from the first game. Now is the time. We have to be winning.
"Seven points, we cannot just win one or two, we have to win a few in a row. I still believe and will until the end, but I have to say that we are in a really bad position."
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