Jean-Ricner Bellegarde was on the end of an elbow from Vladimir Coufal today in Wolves’ 3-0 defeat to West Ham United – and the star has now reacted to the incident on social media.
Wanderers, without the injured Jose Sa, were easily beaten at the London Stadium, with Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus the stars for the hosts.
Kudus grabbed two goals in the 3-0 result, and gave Wolves defender Toti Gomes a really tough time in the capital.
In the end, Wolves did not deserve anything from today’s game, as it was a seriously poor performance from Gary O’Neil‘s side, with the decision to play with a back four questionable.
But perhaps the game might have been different had West Ham gone down to 10 men following Coufal’s shocking challenge…
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde breaks silence after Vladimir Coufal elbow in West Ham v Wolves
Just before half-time in the game, Coufal clattered into Bellegarde, catching the midfielder in the face with his elbow.
Somehow, this incident went unpunished, and Sky Sports pundits Roy Keane and Daniel Sturridge were left extremely surprised at half-time as they analysed the incident. Sturridge branded it ‘WWE stuff’, while Keane stated that Coufal was a ‘lucky boy’.
Bellegarde, who was smashed again by Coufal towards the end of the game, has now given his reaction to the incident.
Reacting to footage on X, he said: “I do not understand anything anymore.”
Coufal was not even booked for his forceful challenge, and the incident was quickly cleared by VAR.
An embarrassing decision
Many Wolves fans will no doubt share Bellegarde’s sentiments this evening.
Most will be able to accept tonight that Wolves did not deserve any points from today’s game, but many will not accept the decision not to show Coufal a red card.
It was simply a cowardly challenge from the Czech Republic international, who then showed what he’s all about with another shocking challenge on the same player towards the end.
Wolves fans will not be surprised that the appropriate action was not taken today, as it has been a season-long show of ineptitude from VAR and the PGMOL.