Hammers miss chance to open four-point gap
WEST HAM 1 vs SOUTHAMPTON 1
WEST HAM manager Sam Allardyce blamed referee Lee Probert for his side’s failure to move four points clear of Southampton at the top of the Championship.
Probert turned down two strong penalty claims for handball against Rickie Lambert and Jos Hooiveld in the opening 15 minutes.
And when the official did finally point to the spot, after Mark Noble was tripped by Morgan Schneiderlin, he sent off West Ham’s Matt Taylor for shoving Billy Sharp in the resulting fracas.
Noble dusted himself down to score his seventh goal from seven penalties this season, but Hooiveld equalised for the visitors in the second half to secure a share of the spoils.
“In our point of view the major decisions have gone the wrong way,” said Allardyce. “I don’t want the officials taking away what we are striving for and I thought the officials tried to do that today, which was a shame.
“We also should have had two other penalties. I’ve looked at them four times, and the second one is a sending-off as well as a penalty.”