Hurzeler: Penalty against Dunk not clear enough

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Head coach's reflections on the 2-2 draw against West Ham.

Bruce Talbot

2025-12-30T22:00+00:00

Fabian Hurzeler watches on intently at the London Stadium. 📷Paul Hazlewood

Fabian Hurzeler felt Albion were hard done by after they were held to a 2-2 draw against West Ham United at the London Stadium.

Albion’s head coach thought that the third penalty of a chaotic first half – awarded for a handball against Lewis Dunk – was not clear enough. Referee Michael Salisbury initially played on but changed his mind after he was sent to the pitch-side monitor by the VAR Stuart Attwell.

“No one can say it was a clear handball, the VAR footage was not the clearest so it was a guess and in the best league in the world it shouldn’t be a guess,” said Hurzeler.

Maxim De Cuyper takes aim in the first half. 📷Paul Hazlewood.

Danny Welbeck scored his eighth goal of the season from the spot but then saw a second Panenka-style penalty come back off the crossbar. Joel Veltman equalised in the second half with his first goal since May 2024.

“I don't need to speak to him. He makes the decisions and we support him," added Hurzeler. "If he scores, everyone says ‘what a great penalty’. As a striker you always have to make decisions and he made so many good decisions. He has helped us so much this season – we keep pushing together.

“I thought it was a good performance, but in the end not a result we can be happy with. In some moments we missed some quality, in some moments we had a lack of luck. That's why it was 2-2.

“But we have the belief in our quality and ourselves. Small margins are missing but we will keep pushing and I’m sure we’ll soon be back to getting on the winning track.”

Hurzeler confirmed Yankuba Minteh will need a scan after going off in the second half.