News about Tomas Soucek

Luton fans clashed with stewards as their side's hopes of Premier League suffered a major blow in defeat to West Ham. A video shared on social media showed dramatic scenes in the away end during the closing stages of the game as some travelling supporters became embroiled in melee with stewards. The disruption is said to have been caused by stewards attempting to remove at least two fans from the lower tier.

Players from every club took part in a segment where they attempted to place the grounds of all 20 top-flight outfits in their correct geographical location. The task was made simpler by generic markers which had been stuck onto locations up and down the country. All they had to do was select the right team for the right spot. Though, admittedly, the mess of clubs in London, and to a lesser degree in the north west, made the challenge more difficult. Still, they would still be expected to correctly identify where their own ground is.

David Moyes' West Ham will have a mountain to climb when they take on Xabi Alonso's unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday.  The German side are unbeaten in all competitions in 2023-24 and, due to this, find themselves 16 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga table.  It could be an uncomfortable afternoon for the Hammers when they travel to Germany and with that in mind, Sky Bet have offered a number of Price Boosts. 

KIERAN GILL: Despite West Ham fans' wrangling over the five minutes and 37 seconds at the London Stadium before the international break, football's representatives have no plans to place a time limit on VAR checks. It was the longest delay to date in Premier League history as the home team's potential champion over Aston Villa was disallowed, prompting calls for a limit of two minutes in effect on Stockley Park interventions.

KIERAN GILL: The PGMOL face the PGMOL as having to explain why VAR took an embarrassing five minutes and 37 seconds to disallow West Ham's winner over Aston Villa, just a month after the Premier League warned the referee body that lengthy delays are harming their product. The check at the London Stadium on Sunday was the longest since VAR had attended the English game in 2019 as supporters of the event had no idea what was going on, although Stockley Park determined whether Tomas Soucek had handled the ball before scoring. The Premier League regularly inform the PGMOL about their results, and it is expected that they will seek an explanation for the dramatic stallation in their next meeting. It comes after Tony Scholes, the league's top football officer, complained in February that checks are taking too long and that reforms must be made.

By 'ridiculous,' long VAR checks such as the five-minute, 37-second referral in West Ham's draw with Aston Villa on Sunday, paying Premier League spectators are being left in the dark. That was the opinion of It's All Kicking Off panel Lee Clayton, Ian Ladyman, and Chris Sutton, who found that officials refused to approve Tomas Soucek's 'winner's handball. Multiple players from both squads and over 62,000 paying fans inside the London Stadium were left sitting around as VAR official Tony Harrington looked at numerous angles of the situation.

KATHYRN BATTE AT THE LONDON STADIUM: David Moyes may have been a little sick of the handball rule. Two goals were disallowed against Aston Villa, with two penalties not given against Burnley and Freiburg last week. Officials couldn't determine if the ball had struck Tomas Soucek's arm before it bounced off Jarrod Bowen and into the net for what seemed to be a late West Ham winner for the longest VAR check in Premier League history.

The reason why West Ham were unable to score a late penalty in their Europa League loss to Freiburg has been revealed. After Michael Gregoritsch netted late for the hosts, David Moyes' side had failed to take their chances at the Europa-Park Stadion and found themselves a goal down going into the closing stages. After Noah Weisshaupt appeared to handle the ball inside the box, the Hammers seemed to have been given a lifeline after the referee consulted with VAR for a potential penalty.

After West Ham were denied a late penalty in Thursday's Europa League round of 16 first-leg matches in Germany, Michael Owen has slammed the handball decision as a "total mess." Noah Weisshaupt, who seemed to have his arm raised in an unnatural manner, intercepted a cross into the box destined for the head of Czech foreign Tomas Soucek.

When West Ham lost in their Europa League match against Freiburg, they were denied a late penalty in a tense manner. On Thursday, the Hammers were dissatisfied with their Bundesliga opponents, with Jarrod Bowen unable to convert multiple opportunities to give them the edge. With just ten minutes remaining in the Round of 16 first leg, to make it worse for visitors, Michael Gregoritsch gave Freiburg the lead.

JOE BERNSTEIN AT GOODISON PARK: Everton believed their luck was about to change after winning on their points appeal, this was a sad setback. They might have played this well under Sean Dyche, but they may have felt the agony of losing after two sucker-punches from West Ham in injury-time, the first of which was a beauty smash from outside of Tomas Soucek's right boot. Alphonse Areola had made nine saves in the West Ham goal, including a penalty stop from Beto, before that.

The ball was IN for Tomas Soucek's tumultuous opener against Arsenal on Thursday afternoon, and it has been reported that it was in place. Thanks to Soucek's opener and Konstantinos Mavropanos' header in the second half, West Ham defeated the Gunners 2-0.

There's a lot of discussion surrounding how VAR is officiating games following West Ham's 2-0 victory over Arsenal. Tomas Soucek's tumultuous goal during the game has sparked a lot of discussion. Video analysts had been unable to determine if the ball had crossed the byline before Jarrod Bowen shot in the Hammers' opener in a similar situation to Anthony Gordon's controversial goal against the Gunners earlier this season. Many took to social media to say that the ball had crossed the line, with Mikel Arteta insisting that VAR technology is not "good enough" after the match, with Jamie Carragher taking to X (formerly Twitter) claiming that the 'ball seemed out for West Ham's goal.'

After the Arsenal midfielder conceded a late spot-kick at the Emirates on Thursday, Said Benrahma seemed to wink at his former West Ham teammate Declan Rice. West Ham's 2-0 victory over the title contenders in the Premier League pushed David Moyes' side to sixth place in the table, while Arsenal lost two points to new Premier League champions Liverpool, who beat Burnley 2-0 on Boxing Day. With a poacher's goal inside the six-yard box in the 13th minute, Tomas Soucek put the visitors up a point, before Konstantinos Mavropanos' header in the second half, which significantly doubled the visitors' advantage.

Following Arsenal's 2-0 loss to West Ham, the team's video of Martin Odegaard's highlights has gone viral on the internet. The midfielder turned in a captain's appearance during the game but failed to inspire his team to triumph, with some on social media chastising his teammates for letting him down. After the ball had appeared to go out of play, West Ham went forward in the match after only 13 minutes, with Tomas Soucek hammering in a contentious pass from Jarrod Bowen on the byline.

During Arsenal's 2-0 loss on Thursday night, manager Mikel Arteta was seen holding a note instructing his players to fight West Ham's 'hotzone.' But the pleas refused to pay as they went blank. In their shocking loss to the Hammers, the Gunners had 30 shots on target, but they couldn't find a way past David Moyes, who had scored twice from only two shots on target. Arteta's leather was on fire late in the game after former Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos made it 2-0 in the second half, following Tomas Soucek's tense opener as he made a series of attacking changes.

After Tomas Soucek's tumultuous opener against Arsenal, Jamie Carragher believes that officials need more technology, with VAR unable to determine if the ball had gone out of play before Jarrod Bowen crossed the ball back in. On Thursday night, West Ham secured a 2-0 victory over Arsenal in the title chasers, thanks to Soucek's goal before former Gunners defender Konstantinos Mavropanos headed home in the second half. However, there was a VAR controversy in a game involving the Gunners where the ball had crossed the byline before Bowen hooked the ball across the goal for Soucek to prod home for the opener.

ISSAN KHAN AT THE EMIRATES STADIUM: VAR and Alex Arteta were beaten out again as Arsenal slumped to a humiliating home loss to West Ham, effectively ending their hopes of reclaim first place. At the 73rd time of asking, David Moyes' first away league victory over Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United was his first away league victory over the old 'big four' of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United. In the first half, Tomas Soucek controversially started the scoring, with VAR unable to determine if the ball had gone out before Jarrod Bowen's cross.

IAN LADYMAN AT THE EMIRATES STADIUM: This was supposed to be the Christmas when Arsenal put the squeeze on Manchester City, a time to put some air between them and Pep Guardiola's crew, while the Premier League champions were otherwise dispersed in the middle east. However, while City has been winning the Club World Cup and defeating Everton at Goodison Park, Arsenal will face Everton on a four-point streak in New Year. Daylight? If City wins their game, they will actually be ahead of Arsenal on goal difference.

West Ham's first goal in their 2-0 victory over Arsenal was disputed, according to Mark Clattenburg, because there were no convincing signs that the ball had been knocked out before Jarrod Bowen sent in a cross. Following a lengthy VAR check, Tomas Soucek found the net in the 13th minute, with referee Michael Oliver granting the goal. In order to provide more context in future scenarios, former Premier League referee Clattenburg said a chip should be put in the ball.

Arsenal fans were keen to vent on social media after West Ham's early lead at the Emirates. Arsenal scrambled to clear the ball after Bowen continued to play, though their players thought the ball had gone out of play. With the pitch's confusion apparent, Tomas Soucek capitalised and netted the opener to put the visitors 1-0 ahead in the first 15 minutes of play.

Kieran Gill answers all of the key questions regarding West Ham United's live blog.

West Ham's travel to Backa Topola and Brighton are in action against AEK Athens in the Europa League, so be sure to check out all the latest scores, squad news, and highlights.

KIERAN GILL: After a 1-0 victory over Serbian side Backa Topola on Thursday night, West Ham advanced to the knockout stages of the Europa League. David Moyes was without several first team regulars due to injuries and sickness, and their absence was felt as the Premier League outfit was far below average. But, in the 89th minute of a game lacking in overall quality, Soucek arrived at the far post and sent Thilo Kehrer's pin-point delivery.