17 December 2023 , 17:52
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Daniel Sturridge has slammed Vladimir Coufal and branded his first-half challenge on Jean-Ricner Bellegarde during West Ham's 3-0 win over Wolves as "WWE stuff".
The incident came while David Moyes' side were 2-0 up at the London Stadium. In the 44th minute, Bellegarde tried to skip past Coufal on the touchline, only for the Hammers right-back to charge through the Wolves midfielder and completely clean him out without getting the ball.
Replays showed that Coufal caught his opponent with his elbow in the face as Bellegarde went crashing down. Despite this, Coufal walked away without even getting a yellow card. Sturridge, who was working for Sky Sports on Super Sunday, could not believe what he was seeing.
"I don't know if this should be happening on a football pitch," Sturridge said. "Come on? This is WWE stuff. This is rugby stuff. It's an elbow to the jaw."
Roy Keane added: "It sounds like something must have gone on between the two of them. It just seemed odd the timing, it was reckless and he's a lucky boy. We've seen players get a red [card] for that. There is no danger, high up the pitch, West Ham are doing well, there is no need for it."
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When quizzed by Sturridge if Keane had made a similar challenge during his career, the ex-United midfielder replied: "Not me, no. Are you getting me mixed up with somebody? You're thinking of Robbie Keane."
Should Vladimir Coufal have been sent off? Let us know in the comments below!
Vladimir Coufal escaped a yellow card for a "WWE" tackle on Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (Sky Sports)This wasn't the only challenge Coufal left on Bellegarde during the match. The Czech Republic international was finally booked in the 87th minute after he left another late tackle on the Wolves man.
As for the game itself, Mohamed Kudus struck a brace for the Hammers to put them in full control before Jarrod Bowen netted to secure all three points. The win moves West Ham above Brighton and up to eighth, while Wolves remain 13th but 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
Reflecting on his side's performance, Wolves boss Gary O'Neil told Sky Sports: "The scoreline didn't reflect the game, definitely. We were terrible for the goals.
"Unbelievable decision making and errors in the three goals and West Ham were very clinical. Then me standing here and talking about the rest of the game becomes irrelevant really.
"There were some good moments in it, we arrive in their penalty area, get some good chances, but if we're going to give goals away in that way from three transitions as easily as we did then we're going to struggle."
Moyes was pleased with how clinical his side were to record their third win in four matches in all competitions. "There were not easy chances, they were really difficult finishes and they were brilliantly done by Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen," Moyes said. "Lucas Paqueta got three assists today as well. The players we put in to give us the attacking threat really performed today."