Gary Neville and Micah Richards claim Man City should have had a first half penalty against West Ham

Gary Neville and Micah Richards both felt that Manchester City should have been awarded a penalty in the first half of their game against West Ham on Sunday.

With both teams looking to break the deadlock, Gabriel Jesus went down under a challenge from Kurt Zouma. 

City were left incensed that they had not been given a spot-kick, and Neville had some sympathy for them after watching a replay of the incident.

Gabriel Jesus wanted a penalty after going down following a tackle from Kurt Zouma

“I think that is a penalty,’ Neville said on co-commentary during the match.

‘That was clumsy from Zouma’.

VAR briefly looked at the tackle, but decided against overturning the on-field decision, despite Zouma appearing to make contact with Jesus’s leg as the pair battled for the ball.

Assessing the penalty shout at half time, Richards was in disbelief that VAR did not intervene.

Gary Neville stated on commentary that Man City should have been given a penalty

Micah Richards agreed that City were unfortunate not to be given a spot-kick

‘It’s a definite penalty. I don’t know what they’re (VAR) doing,’ he said in the Sky Sports Studio.

Jarrod Bowen went on to score twice later in the half, leaving City facing an uphill task to keep their title charge on track.

However, they fought back after the break, with a Jack Grealish strike and a Vladimir Coufal own goal bringing them level. 

Jesus did eventually win a penalty in the latter stages of the second half after the was brought down by Craig Dawson.

Riyad Mahrez’s effort was kept out by Lukasz Fabianski, though, as Pep Guardiola’s side had to settle for a point.