Wolverhampton Wanderers are still reeling from the VAR controversy that marred their recent 2-1 defeat to West Ham, with one of Gary O’Neil’s rising talents opening up about the pivotal moment in the match that left him “devastated.”.
The past few weeks have been challenging for the Wolves, grappling with a dip in form exacerbated by key injuries plaguing Gary O’Neil’s already depleted squad. The team has faced adversity since the start of the season due to its reduced size, a consequence of financial constraints that led to key players being sold without replacements, leaving O’Neil with a significant task to maintain the Wolves’ competitiveness in the top flight.
Despite the odds stacked against them, with only seven games remaining in the 2023–24 Premier League season, the manager has managed to steer the Old Gold clear of relegation worries, albeit amidst ongoing squad concerns. However, any sense of achievement was overshadowed by the result against West Ham last week.
The Wolves players are still reeling from the contentious moment against West Ham. It appeared that the Wolves had salvaged a point at Molineux when Max Kilman netted a goal in the 101st minute. However, their joy was short-lived as VAR intervened and disallowed the goal for offside, despite Kilman not being in an offside position himself.
The decision to rule out the goal was attributed to the positioning of Tawanda Chirewa, who was deemed to be obstructing Lukasz Fabianski’s line of sight while in an offside position—a verdict that sparked fury among everyone associated with the Wolves.
Reflecting on the incident that denied Wolves a crucial point, the 20-year-old Chirewa confessed to the Express and Star that he was “devastated” by VAR’s controversial intervention. He explained, “I had no clue it was about me! I came back for the kick-off and had no clue the referee was talking about me, I thought it was something else. I was devastated because I came on at 2-1 down, and 2-2 would have been a good moment, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
Chirewa wasn’t the only one affected by the decision to disallow Kilman’s goal, with O’Neil and many others within the footballing community expressing frustration. The outcome was a bitter pill to swallow for the Wolves, as they had fought valiantly with a depleted squad until the final moments, only to have their efforts thwarted by VAR’s intervention.
This wasn’t the first time Wolves had been left bewildered by VAR’s involvement this season, adding to a series of controversies that have plagued the club throughout the 2023–24 campaign.
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