![Gary O'Neil (R) – Gary O'Neil thrown out of referees room after 'worst decision' he has seen denies Wolves equaliser](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/football/2024/04/06/TELEMMGLPICT000372919587_17124292650720_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bql7zZC4yWaKjEkgjPKYGip-3MlrS_h6YP-diad3I1BqA.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Gary O’Neil thrown out of referee’s room after arguing about offside decision
Max Kilman’s header in the 99th minute was ruled out by VAR after Tawanda Chirewa was deemed to have been interfering with play
![Gary O'Neil (R) – Gary O'Neil thrown out of referees room after 'worst decision' he has seen denies Wolves equaliser](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/football/2024/04/06/TELEMMGLPICT000372919587_17124292650720_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bql7zZC4yWaKjEkgjPKYGip-3MlrS_h6YP-diad3I1BqA.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Wolverhampton Wanderers head coach Gary O’Neil was thrown out of the referee’s room after arguing about a VAR decision that cost his side a late equaliser in the 2-1 defeat to West Ham United at Molineux.
O’Neil lost his temper after Max Kilman’s 99th-minute header was ruled out when the television official ruled that Wolves’ Tawanda Chirewa was offside. O’Neil branded that decision as “possibly the worst I have ever seen”. (See the incident by playing the video below).
![Chirewa offside](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/football/2024/04/06/TELEMMGLPICT000372921018_17124328627530_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bq5wotEIp_KjW3Mz6CdZnsJjAYe01kDyXGA259e1EwfkI.jpeg?imwidth=350)
![Chiwera](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/football/2024/04/06/TELEMMGLPICT000372921017_17124329302560_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bq5-ZJsVmGcQSwJaprWkKwGu0Pc7dOiIGLxF2Ul7dWsx0.jpeg?imwidth=350)
“Unfortunately I wasn’t able to control my emotions well enough to receive an explanation,” O’Neil added. “I was in with the referee [Tony Harrington] but it didn’t go too well. I was in a fairly bad mood at the final whistle.
“I went in to see him and asked him some questions and he didn’t like the way they were asked, so he thought it best we didn’t discuss it.
“The explanation is irrelevant because everyone I’ve spoken to – David Moyes, Lucasz Fabianski – all can’t believe it has been given for offside.
“It was possibly the worst decision I have ever seen.”
Asked if he could see how it was given, O’Neil said: “If your knowledge and understanding of the game is really poor you could reach the conclusion that it’s offside.
“I think if you’re a Premier League official working at the highest level I’d be really disappointed if you’d felt that was offside.
“If it’s correct by the letter of the law then the letter of the law needs changing. The only way Tawanda could be having an impact on play is if he stops Fabianski’s ability to move and save, or if he impacts his vision. If you watch the side-on view, he’s not impacting his vision or his ability to save the shot.”
O’Neil was so incensed he left the technical area to watch the game in the tunnel before returning to the dugout.
“I was keen to get a view on a bigger screen to give myself a couple of minutes,” he said.
“I was conscious I was on two yellow cards and it’s very hard to control how you feel in that moment, so was trying hard not to receive another caution.”
O’Neil said Wolves’ players feel they are being “disrespected” after a string of VAR decisions went against them earlier in the season.
“I’ve talked them down a couple of times from figuring out what they want to do about that and handle it, but I can’t expect them not to this time,” he added.
West Ham manager Moyes’s view of the offside decision was slightly different, saying: “We’re the last ones to say we got away with one after decisions that have gone against us in the last few weeks.
“Gary felt it should have gone his way but when you look at it again, the boy is standing in front of the goalkeeper.
“If the player isn’t going to walk back onside, he risks being given offside.
“I felt for Gary because the decisions we’ve had against us in the last few weeks you felt like sitting in a dark room for a week.”
Report: Ward-Prowse scores directly from a corner
By Tim Nash
West Ham wasted a superb chance to take the lead in the first half when Tomas Soucek trod on the ball from Jarrod Bowen’s cross after Nelson Semedo lost possession.
But it was Wolves’ first half as the hosts dominated.
They deservedly led, though it took them until the 33rd minute to break the deadlock after Joao Gomes and Mario Lemina should have done better with poor shots.
Their goal came from the spot after Rayan Ait-Nouri – arguably their best player before he was withdrawn with a calf problem in the 55th minute – was brought down by Emerson after Tommy Doyle’s smart pass.
A VAR check prompted chants of ‘We want our football back’ but Harrington’s decision was upheld.
Pablo Sarabia’s low spot kick flew in off the inside of the left-hand post, beating the outstretched left hand of Fabianski.
Sarabia celebrated with a military-style salute to the home support.
But if the first half had been all Wolves, the second period belonged to West Ham, prompted by the half-time introduction of Michail Antonio and Ben Johnson.
West Ham had the ball in the net in the 64th minute but Emerson’s far-post header from Mohammed Kudus’s cross was ruled out for a foul.
Replays showed Emerson pushed Nelson Semedo and possibly caught his leg before the Portuguese fell to the ground.
Moyes’ side got the equaliser their more positive play was increasingly deserving of in the 71st minute – and it also came from the spot.
Emmerson was clearly fired up and he won back possession to punish sloppy Wolves defending on the right and his cross was blocked by the hand of Kilman.
Lucas Paqueta, after an interrupted run-up, slotted it home to Jose Sa’s left, in the same corner as Sarabia’s.
James Ward-Prowse grabbed what turned out to be a spectacular winner, direct from a corner in the 84th minute.
The deadball specialist lived up to his name by curling a superb – albeit wind-assisted – corner over the head of goalkeeper Jose Sa and into the far corner of the net.
![Ward Prowse goal from corner kick](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/football/2024/04/06/TELEMMGLPICT000372917417_17124333173860_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqDAoCN0zt2fIWNcwvVaupU4MgS4Zd_nvCtxOLqYKfDhI.jpeg?imwidth=350)
Then came the controversial moment when Wolves celebrated what they thought was the equaliser from Joao Gomes’s corner.
Victory for West Ham proved timely, ending a run of four Premier League games without a win and coming before their trip to Germany for the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday.
They face an anxious wait on Jarrod Bowen after the 19-goal forward limped off with a back and hip problem.
However, the game however will be remembered for the goal that never was.