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West Ham United felt Bruno Guimaraes’ winner for Newcastle United on Monday night should not have been allowed to stand.
Guimaraes volleyed in Harvey Barnes’ cross from close range in the second half as Newcastle claimed a 1-0 win at the London Stadium. But off the ball, West Ham defender Max Kilman felt he was fouled by Alexander Isak as he jumped up to head Barnes’ cross clear.
Isak pushed Kilman in the back shortly before Guimaraes found the net but VAR refrained from intervening and the goal stood.
But Kilman spoke to Sky Sports after the match feeling he was fouled by the Newcastle striker.
When asked if he felt he was fouled, Kilman said: “100%. I jumped in the air and I felt a hard push. I felt like it was a foul and I felt like it should have been given.
“Of course, we had chances after that so it is hard to take – we have got to move on.”
West Ham head coach Graham Potter pointed to Isak’s reaction and the lack of celebration from the Newcastle forward as a potential indicator that a foul was committed.
“I thought it was a committed performance from us,” Potter told Sky Sports after the match. “The game ebbed-and-flowed. Disappointed with the goal, it looks like two hands in the back of our centre-back.
"We had some moments, not enough to win it, but we were committed enough to get enough from the game. Two-handed push in the box. You see from the reaction of the striker who thought it could have been a foul.
“The attitude and effort was there in a really tight game against a very physical and intense team. We fell short in terms of our objective.
“We didn’t deserve to win the game, but we deserved something from the game.
Newcastle United’s ‘best’ win of the season
Reflecting on the win, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe said: “Massive win, massive, massive win,” Howe told The Gazette. “Not our best game, but one of our best games of the season for me, because it's always going to be a tight game, it's difficult grounds to play at, difficult team to play against, but I thought we dug in, we were disciplined, we were everything defensively we haven't been in recent weeks, really.
“I thought we defended our goal magnificently. Very, very pleased with the whole team, because we've had a challenging week. It was a brilliant response.
“We needed the players to empty the tank, to give everything to win this game, to show that we're still competitive, and to give ourselves belief.
“Because we've lost some key players, you only truly get belief from winning. You can prepare as well as you can, but the winning is the thing that is the final missing piece.
“And we did it today, and we defended much better, and we needed to after recent weeks.”
Next up for Newcastle is the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley Stadium on Sunday (4:30pm kick-off).
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