Callum Wilson insists disallowed goal vs Arsenal should have stood as West Ham star breaks silence on VAR controversy

The fallout from Sunday’s London derby continues to simmer after Wilson saw a stoppage-time equaliser chalked off following a lengthy review. Referee Chris Kavanagh originally awarded the goal but was advised to consult the pitch-side monitor, where he determined that Pablo had impeded David Raya by holding the goalkeeper's arm as he attempted to claim the ball.

Speaking out on the incident, Wilson questioned why similar physical battles in the penalty area are often ignored. "I’m going to say yes (it should’ve stood) because I scored the goal for one," Wilson told Sky Sports. "But for two, we see a lot of teams nowadays doing a similar situation in the box blocking goalkeepers. We analysed Arsenal’s set-pieces before the match and there was a lot of that going on in there. That’s not just to say they do it, everybody does it."

Wilson argued that the foul on Raya was an isolated incident that ignored other infringements occurring before. He suggested that if the officials were going to be that pedantic, they would have to penalise every bit of contact in the box, rather than picking one specific moment to overturn a goal that had massive implications for both the title race and the fight against the drop.

"For me it’s against us, are you saying it’s a foul? Possibly," Wilson added. "But of course, there’s incidents that have happened throughout the season that are similar. I just think if there’s consistency then there’s no complaints from anybody. If you’re going to pull up one you’re going to have to pull up all of them. I think he probably should have just let it see itself out and think it’s just handbags in the box and it is what it is."

Despite the anger from the West Ham camp, PGMOL chief Howard Webb has publicly backed the decision to disallow the strike. During an appearance on the Match Officials Mic'd Up show, Webb explained that the contact on the Arsenal goalkeeper was clear and met the threshold for a foul, regardless of the high-pressure circumstances of the match.

Webb was firm in his assessment of the clash between Pablo and the Spaniard, stating that if a goalkeeper is impeded by an opponent grabbing or holding their arms they must be protected. However, Wilson remained unconvinced, pointing out that Leandro Trossard and Gabriel were also involved in physical grappling before the ball reached Raya.

"If you talk about Pablo’s hand on the goalkeeper as an isolated incident, of course it’s a foul," he added. "But if you look at Trossard not even facing the ball, pushing him, Gabriel pulling his shirt, he’s going to have to stop himself from falling somehow. Whether that’s putting his arm out and then trying to hold on to something, which unfortunately was the goalkeeper’s arm. If that was another player and it stops him from jumping up to head the ball it’s not going to get given as a foul. If that’s a foul then Trossard before it is a foul."

The controversy has also caught the attention of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, whose side is currently chasing Arsenal at the top of the table. The City boss took the opportunity to voice his long-standing distrust of the video review system, suggesting that the subjective nature of the technology makes it unreliable for deciding league titles or major trophies.

Guardiola expressed deep frustration with the technology, saying: "I never trust anything since they (VAR) arrived a long time ago. Always I learned you have do it better, do it better, be in a position to do it better because you blame yourself with what you have to do, because [VAR] is a flip of a coin." He urged his players to focus on their own performances to ensure that crucial results are not left in the hands of the VAR booth at Stockley Park as the Premier League season reaches its climax.