Specsavers mock referee and VAR as West Ham are harshly denied last-gasp penalty
West Ham were denied a penalty against Freiburg that was so controversial even Specsavers trolled the referee.
West Ham were downed 1-0 by Freiburg in the first leg of their last 16 Europa League tie in Germany.
But the match ended in controversy after a lengthy VAR check at the death regarding a potential handball from Noah Weisshaupt.
After nearly five minutes, which included referee Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez going to the pitchside monitor, the decision was made not to award a penalty and the match ended as a result.
It caused fury among the travelling West Ham fans while optical retail company Specsavers even mocked the referee.
After a post was made on social media site X by TNT Sports of the incident, Specsavers replied: "Please could everyone involved get in touch immediately."
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And while many West Ham fans were left reeling from the decision, they did see the funny side of the post.
One fan replied: "You know it’s bad when specsavers are finally on your side."
Another said: "Thank you. You’ve made me have a good laugh. Definitely needed after that."
And a third wrote back: "This is why you’re my favourite opticians."
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In the final minute of injury time, Tomas Soucek and Weisshaupt challenged for the ball, with the Freiburg player's arms in the air.
The ball propelled off both of their boots into Weisshaupt's hands with the referee being told to watch again on the pitchside monitor before sticking with his on-field decision of no penalty.
Freiburg had taken the lead late into the contest when Michael Gregoritsch netted in the 81st minute after coming off the bench.
The Austrian evaded West Ham's defence to latch on to a Roland Sallai shot-turned-cross to give the Bundesliga outfit a valuable lead going into the second leg.
The Hammers had comfortably beaten Freiburg twice earlier this season when they met in the group stage of the Europa League.
But Christian Streich's side looked much more dangerous on Thursday night and arguably deserved their lead, despite both sides having the exact same amount of shots and shots on target.
West Ham had golden chances too, though, not least from Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta, who both missed glorious opportunities to get on the scoresheet.
The two sides meet again at the London Stadium next Thursday with Moyes' men needing a victory to progress.