West Ham's Coach Furious with Premier League Referee

Coach Nuno Espirito Santo sharply condemned Brighton's disputed equalizing goal, and Jarrod Bowen acknowledged that the 1-1 draw left West Ham feeling as if they had lost.

On the evening of December 7th, during the 15th round of the 2025/26 Premier League, Brighton escaped defeat in stoppage time to secure a 1-1 draw against West Ham at the Amex Stadium, despite the visitors playing disciplined football and taking the lead through Jarrod Bowen’s opener. This result keeps West Ham stuck in the relegation zone and sparked controversy over Brighton’s late equalizer.

After the disappointing 1-1 draw at the Amex, Coach Nuno Espirito Santo spoke candidly to Sky Sports. The Portuguese manager expressed his frustration at West Ham losing the win in stoppage time, especially regarding the incident that led to Brighton’s equalizer.

“It’s cruel that we couldn’t secure the victory. Brighton’s goal was clearly a handball situation, right? There was even a high foot involved. I don’t need to say more to the referee because that was the decisive moment of the match.,” Nuno vented.

Nevertheless, he praised his players’ performance: “In the first half, we played very well, caused them many problems, and controlled the game effectively. Brighton didn’t have many clear chances. We were ahead and tried to protect the lead, but failed. The team had good opportunities to finish the game, and we need to improve on that. The players are very disappointed.”

Meanwhile, goal scorer Jarrod Bowen couldn’t hide his disappointment as West Ham left the Amex Stadium with just one point. He admitted the team lost control in the final minutes: “I’m really disappointed; it feels like a loss. We did everything to stay ahead but dropped too deep and put pressure on ourselves. We wanted to hold the score, but in the end, we only got one point.”

Bowen elaborated: “We limited Brighton for most of the match. The whole team believes in the coach’s tactics, and we had chances to score more, but then they equalized. They have scored late goals against us several times before, and today it happened again.”

Regarding the opening goal, Bowen admitted it was a relief moment: “When you haven’t scored for a while, difficult shots tend to go in easiest. I just tried to slide the ball into the far corner, like a ‘tackle goal.’ It felt like a big relief.”

Despite earning only one point, Bowen believes West Ham can regain form by better capitalizing on chances: “Every goal counts. When we create many opportunities, we gain more confidence.”

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