Premier League explain West Ham's controversial penalty decision against Chelsea – but talkSPORT pundits aren't convinced

West Ham were denied a penalty against Chelsea in a decision that left talkSPORT commentator Sam Matterface “stunned”.

The Hammers trailed 2-0 early on but looked set to get back into the game when Crysencio Summerville was held by Wesley Fofana inside the box.

The former Leeds winger, who moved to east London for more than £25million in the summer, was played inside the box and went down as the Chelsea defender grabbed his arm.

Field referee Sam Barrott rejected the Hammers' appeals and the decision was reviewed by VAR.

However, it was ultimately ruled that no penalty would be applied and Barrott was not even referred to the pitchside monitor.

A statement from Premier League Match Centre X wrote: “The referee's decision not to penalise Fofana's foul on Summerville has been verified and confirmed by VAR, deeming it not to be a sustained hold.”

Responding to the incident on talkSPORT's coverage, chief commentator Matterface and former England striker Ashton had the following exchange…

Ashton: “Fofana has him in his grasp, he has his arm in his grasp, there is no doubt about that.

“He grabbed Summerville’s arm, the only question is whether officers feel there is enough movement for Summerville to twist and fall to the ground like he did.”

Expensive material: “That's a penalty. I'd be very surprised if it wasn't disallowed.”

“They will probably tell the referee to look at the monitor… but it seems he won’t do it. They are still reviewing it, but it doesn’t seem like the referee is interested in going to look at it.”

Dean: “But how? This is really frustrating. How is it possible that the referee on the pitch is not going to see that? That is something I cannot understand.”

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“The referee should at least take a good look at that situation for such a serious decision, where from our point of view, even at normal speed without replays, you could see that he grabbed his arm.”

Once informed of the Premier League's official reasoning, talkSPORT's pundits were unconvinced.

Ashton: “How long do you have to keep a player to keep him?

“But again, I mentioned it, when they took Summerville out, he turned his body toward the ground; that’s not natural.”

Expensive stuff:”What constitutes a 'sustained' tenure?

West Ham's afternoon started in the worst possible way when Nicolas Jackson scored twice in 14 minutes to give Chelsea the lead.

More news to come later…