Fulham (0) 0 v 0 (0) West Ham United
Yellows: Andersen Fabianski, Ogbonna, Yarmolenko
Red: Soucek
Played Saturday 6 February at an empty Craven Cottage.
The VAR (Video Assistant Referee) controversy which came at the end of this latest Premier London derby (PLDs) match in the Premier League (PL) was undoubtably the biggest talking point in the goalless draw between Fulham and West Ham United. It involved one of the Hammers best performing players of late Tomas Soucek who was given a straight red card for violent conduct after allegedly deliberately elbowing the home forward Aleksandar Mitrovic in the face. The situation was doubly controversial because it came so late in the game (7th minute of added time) and involved the same 2 match officials, Mike Dean on the field and Lee Mason with the video, who were recently involved in a sending off in the PL match between Manchester United and Southampton. The red card for Saints’ JanBednarek was subsequently rescinded on appeal. Aleksandar Mitrovic felt this incident was accidental. Fulham had the better of the game but only 2 of their 20 efforts were on target. 8 draws in their last 12 PL matches is unlikely to keep them up.
The other London derby played last week was on Wednesday 10 February 2021 in the Women’s Super League (WSL) when Chelsea Women beat Arsenal Women 3-0 with 2 goals (48,58) by Pernille Harder both assisted by Sam Kirby who herself scored in the 90thminute. This put Chelsea Women back on the top of the WSL after their shock home defeat (1-2) by Brighton Women on Saturday 7 February 2021 which had ended their record making 33 WSL matches without defeat! Arsenal Women are 4th in the WSL with 23 points from 13. Chelsea FC men are doing their bit too being the only PLDs Club left in the F.A. Cup after their 0-1 (64 Abraham, assist James) win away at Oakwell Barnsley, which gives them a home quarter-final tie against PL strugglers Sheffield United.
Until next time, “Keep Safe” and enjoy your football, Andrew at PLDs.