West Ham United winger Jarrod Bowen has said he thinks he should have been awarded a penalty against Tottenham Hotspur last year.
Tottenham were forced to settle for a point in the London Derby on Tuesday night at the London Stadium.
It is a ground where Spurs have not walked away with three points since 2019 when Jose Mourinho was standing on the touchline.
However, Bowen thinks Ange Postecoglou’s side may have been fortunate to even come away with a point after he felt he should have been awarded a penalty.
What Jarrod Bowen said about being fouled in the box
Although Brennan Johnson provided Tottenham with an early lead, the visitors were never really able to pose much of a threat from then on.
Spurs ended the game having had 68% of the ball, but they were only able to land four shots on Lukasz Fabianski’s goal.
The Hammers probably had the better of the opportunities with Michail Antonio squandering a huge chance to put them ahead in the second half.
And it seems as if Bowen feels the Hammers should have been given the opportunity from 12 yards out late on in the game.
After he was put through on goal, he lifted the ball over Guglielmo Vicario and the Italian goalkeeper caught him with his sliding follow through.
Speaking after the match the England international said he thought referee John Brooks should have awarded a penalty.
He said: “The keeper definitely caught me late [right at the end], but we obviously didn’t get the decision. I think Tom [Soucek] played me through and it was one of those bouncing ones where I was trying to help it on, but I felt as if the keeper wiped me out.”
What Joe Cole said about Guglielmo Vicario from corners
Spurs conceded yet another sloppy goal which ended up costing them maximum points.
Centre-back Kurt Zouma found himself completely unmarked inside the box and was allowed to convert the ball with his shoulder/back.
Once again, Tottenham’s inability to defend set pieces came back to haunt them as Vicario did not exactly cover himself in glory.
The Italian has been a sensational signing for Spurs and proving to be an excellent successor to Hugo Lloris.
His teammate Destiny Udogie has already admitted he’s been a huge fan of what he has seen from his compatriot this season.
However, there may be one weakness in his game when it comes to gathering crosses from corners.
Teams are now placing one of their players on the goalkeeper and it is proving to be an effective method as Vicario struggles to dominate his area.
Speaking on TNT Sports‘ coverage of the game in east London, Joe Cole admitted he has not been overly impressed with the Italian from corners.
He said: “I remember watching Vicario at Everton and they did this fabulously against him. Look how congested it is in there. He cannot find a route to the ball.”
“Every Premier League manager will probably look at that situation and the fans recognised it, every time they had a set piece the fans thought something was going to happen. He needs to improve that himself, Vicario, but I think they may need to build something around him. Someone in there who can move people, so the goalkeeper can come and grab it.”
Perhaps it is a similar situation to the former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea who also struggled with the physicality of the Premier League in his early days.
But it has to be said this is the only issue which Spurs have seen from Vicario so far with the 27-year-old seriously impressing up to now.
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