West Ham troll Chelsea after Tomas Soucek ‘goalkeeper save’

West Ham couldn’t help but poke fun at London rivals Chelsea after the Blues were denied a blatant penalty in the closing stages of their bitterly frustrating 1-1 draw at the London Stadium on Saturday lunchtime. Shortly after the Hammers thought they were ahead through the Czech Republic international midfielder, they were left desperately hanging onto a point after Soucek’s goal was chalked off by the linesman’s flag.

But Soucek would still have a big part to play in this spicy affair when he blocked Conor Gallagher’s goal-bound effort with his hand.

The ex-Slavia Prague ace went to ground to try and stop the shot but the ball clearly struck his arm as the Chelsea players immediately called for a penalty.

Referee Craig Pawson wasn’t interested though while VAR did not show any willingness to overturn the call.

Yet replays showed this was a huge blunder and a massive let off for West Ham, who were eventually happy with a single point despite a spirited display.

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Either way, West Ham were relishing their slice of fortune as they accompanied the post with a cheeky winking emoji.

Graham Potter could not believe his side were denied a late spot-kick, as he congratulated Soucek on the save.

“I thought it was a good save,” Potter said. “You need your goalkeeper sometimes to get you the points. It hasn’t been given so there’s nothing for me to say.

“I’ve only seen it briefly as I walked across. It’s one of those ones that if it had been given, it wouldn’t have been overturned but it hasn’t been given so I don’t know.

“It looked like a handball to me. Again, like I said, I didn’t know Tomas could get down that easily and save like that, it’s a good stop from him. It’s not for me to talk about VAR.”

Chelsea were ahead in the first half when January loan signing Joao Felix finished smartly in the box following Enzo Fernandez’s ball into the box.

West Ham were then level when Emerson equalised at the back post against his former side after 28 minutes.

Either side could have taken all three points but in the end a draw was probably the fair results in east London following a dramatic start to this weekend’s Premier League action.