Premier League issue statement after two controversial moments during West Ham 2-1 Wolves

Gary O’Neil’s side responded to Tomas Soucek’s header with a fine Matt Doherty goal but a clinical strike from Jarrod Bowen earned all three points for the Hammers at London Stadium.

Referee John Brooks was involved in several controversial moments throughout as he brandished nine yellow cards and denied Wolves two penalties. VAR took centre stage, too, as the officials at Stockley Park ruled out a Mohammed Kudus goal for offside and decided not to overturn Brooks’ on-field calls to deny Wolves spot-kicks.

The first penalty shout came just before Doherty’s equaliser as Goncalo Guedes was bundled over just inside the area by Emerson. A shove from the West Ham defender caused Guedes to slip on top of the ball, putting an end to the chance.

The second call for a spot-kick came after Bowen’s winner as Kostas Mavropanos stepped on Jean-Ricner Bellegarde’s toes from behind, tripping the Wolves man up. Brooks didn’t have the best view but several replays showed the contact being made, yet no penalty was awarded.

Both incidents mentioned certainly caused a stir around London Stadium with many a debate held between supporters in attendance. As the key moments were disputable, the Premier League has issued two statements to clear up the decisions made by the officials.

The first, relating to the Guedes incident, read: “The referee’s call of no penalty for the challenge by Emerson on Guedes was checked and confirmed by VAR, deeming that the contact was outside the box.”

The second, on Bellegarde being denied, said: “The referee’s call of no penalty for the challenge by Mavropanos on Bellegarde was checked and confirmed by VAR, who deemed the referee’s call was not clear and obviously wrong.”

Another big call - away from the penalty spot - went against Wolves too as Santi Bueno appeared to be fouled by Mavropanos before Bowen’s winner. The officials said the goal came from the next faze of play and so the foul was irrelevant, but there were merely seconds between the two incidents.

“That’s a blatant foul on Santi Bueno before the goal, I don’t know how many seconds it was before, but it’s a foul,” O’Neil said of that moment.