'My father was a goalkeeper': Soucek laughs off getting away with handball in West Ham box

The biggest controversy in the West Ham draw took place shortly before full-time when Tomas Soucek effectively saved Conor Gallagher's shot with his arm but was not found to break any rules.

Even Chelsea's Twitter account objected to it, posting "Soucek makes a great save from Conor Gallagher."

As it turned out, Soucek himself does not disagree.

"My father was a goalkeeper, so I did a save!" he said laughing in an interview with West Ham's in-house media before adding a more serious reply.

😉 https://t.co/jw5mF7qeFV pic.twitter.com/MnnhB44oeA

— West Ham United (@WestHam) February 11, 2023

"No, it wasn’t [a penalty] because I just fell on the floor and I know the rules that if I am on the floor and I touch the floor with my hand, even if the ball touches it, it is not handball, so I was quite clear that it’s not, but you never know what can show. It was really difficult for me, because I scored just one minute before that, so in my head it was in, but by the rules I was quite sure it would not be a penalty."

Chelsea fans and the neutral public disagrees, as well as TV pundits, saying that it was a deliberate move by Soucek to save the ball.