An Ex-FIFA official believes West Ham got lucky to walk away with a draw thanks to VAR error.

Although a draw away from home against a side like Fulham is far from the end of the world, the performance that West Ham put in at Craven Cottage was well below the levels expected.

However, Danny Ings’ last minute winner made everything beforehand easier to forgive.

Unfortunately, aside from the poor display, there was controversy in the match, namely a penalty appeal from Fulham after Kilman judged Adama Traore.

Both the referee and VAR officials decided it wasn’t a spot kick, a decision ex-FIFA official Noel Egan heavily disagrees with. I must confess, when I saw that one I thought it was a foul,” Egan told West Ham Zone.

“There is a very high threshold for contact. However, when you have players running at speed the slightest nudge or push can put those players off.”

“I thought Traoré was in a position to go through and score and he had contact from behind which put him over. Therefore, If you were to take the West Ham defender out of the picture, there is no indication of Traoré doing anything other than remaining on his feet.”

“Kilman isn’t just touching the winger, his arm clearly extends. As a result, if I had been in the VAR room I would have awarded a penalty in this incident. VAR got it wrong. I don’t blame the on-field referee because, at the point of contact, he is almost dead in line and would not have been able to see the push.”

“However, I would not have been surprised to see a penalty given by VAR. I would have given it, and I don’t think anybody would have complained.”

Obviously if that penalty gets given, assuming it gets converted, it’s highly unlikely that the Hammers would have been able to overturn the two-goal deficit. There will undoubtedly be instances this season where similar decisions go against us, so it’s important to recognise when something goes our way too.