With murmurs of a potential goalkeeper swoop growing at West Ham United, Alphonse Areola really could have done with avoiding the untimely blunder which gifted Nottingham Forest all three points in Tuesday’s Premier League relegation six-pointer.
The ball came swinging in from wide, and Nuno Espirito Santo’s goalkeeper went flying into an unwitting Morgan Gibbs-White.
Alphonse Areola looked bemused.
His argument, one suspects, was that Gibbs-White was running into him just as he was running into Gibbs-White. The experienced West Ham United glovesman certainly only had eyes for the ball.
HEARTBREAKER! How are you feeling after Hammers 1-2 Forest 💔
The defeat which sends West Ham down?
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On the other hand, those of a Forest persuasion will say that you really can’t be literally hitting other team’s players in the face inside the penalty area – accidental and inadvertent though it might have been – and expect to escape any sort of punishment.
On an evening when Konstantinos Mavropanos stepped up alongside Ollie Scarles and Taty Castellanos provided plenty of running on his Premier League debut, West Ham somehow found a way to lose.
That ‘somehow’ being a very unfortunate moment for the man between the sticks.
Alphonse Areola costs West Ham United in Nottingham Forest loss
Reports this week, via the Daily Mail and more, claim that West Ham have launched a £10 million bid for Bento Matheus of Al-Hilal. A goalkeeper capped six times by the Brazil national team.
One week after Areola left Nuno ‘disappointed’ after gifting Brighton an equaliser in a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium – he flapped at a corner as Joel Veltman poked home – this time Nottingham Forest and Gibbs-White were the beneficiaries.
To think, Areola had made such a difference to West Ham’s set-piece woes only recently. Two high-profile mistakes later, and suddenly a new number one might have shot up the priority list.
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
“To be honest, I got whacked in the face and I didn’t have a clue what was going on!” matchwinner Gibbs-White told Sky Sports when asked about the game-deciding incident. “I came to my senses when [referee Tony Harrington] said it was a penalty.
“No doubts [that I would score]. I was practicing yesterday. It was a safety [penalty], but we got the three points in the end.
“Incredible. It wasn’t a nice game. We knew it was going to be a battle because of the position of both teams. What I liked from the boys is we didn’t give up and we fought till the end.
“Delighted we got the three points.”
Who was your MAN OF THE MATCH during West Ham v Forest?
Some good performances on a bad night…
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Referee Tony Harrington made ‘the right call’ in London Stadium heartbreaker
Lee Hendrie, the former England and Aston Villa midfielder, felt Areola could have few complaints.
Try telling the man himself that. The one-time Real Madrid and PSG goalkeeper had no qualms with telling Harrington exactly how he felt about the decision which led to Forest’s 89th minute winner. Then again, the bump on Gibbs-White’s head tomorrow morning will tell its own tale.
“It can’t not be a penalty,” Hendrie said during Sky’s live coverage after the collision had been shown in all its graphic glory by the Video Assistant Referee.
“It’s an unfortunate one for the goalkeeper because you make that decision to come [and try and clear the ball]. It’s clear as day. That is why VAR has told Tony Harrington to go and have a look at it. It’s the right call.”
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