Tottenham Hotspur boss Roberto De Zerbi has accused match officials of not being calm during his side’s 1-1 draw with Leeds on Monday night’s Premier League. Spurs squandered the chance to go four points clear in their relegation battle against 18th-placed West Ham after Daniel Farke’s side equalized via a penalty.
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Mathys Tel scored a stunning opener at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. However, Tel went from hero to zero after referee Jarred Gillett awarded a penalty against him for a foul against Ethan Ampadu in the area. Gillet was advised by the VAR to review Tel’s high boot while attempting to clear the ball with an overhead kick, which caught Ampadu in the head.
Gillet then overturned his initial decision and awarded a penalty to Leeds which Dominic Calvert-Lewin converted to level the game at 1-1. Spurs also had a penalty appeal of their own in the 103rd minute when James Maddison went down inside the area from a Lukas Nmecha contact.
But VAR checked and cleared the incident, and stuck to Gillet’s on-field decision of no penalty. De Zerbi compared the controversial referee’s decision to Sunday’s match when West Ham had their late equaliser disallowed against Arsenal for a foul on David Raya by striker Pablo in the area.
He said: “I think they were not calm today, maybe they suffered the pressure of yesterday’s Arsenal game. For sure we suffered the pressure today. We didn’t play with passion with the ball, too frenetic but also the referee was not calm today.
“I can’t understand the polemic about yesterday’s VAR because it was 200 per cent a foul, not 100 per cent, 200 per cent.”
De Zerbi defends Mathys Tel for ‘crazy’ overhead kick which saw Spurs concede costly penalty to Leeds
Roberto De Zerbi has offered public support to Mathys Tel after the forward forced Tottenham Hotspurs to concede a costly penalty to Leed United on Monday. The Frenchman scored a stunning opener for the hosts, who are battling relegation against West Ham.
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However, his reckless overhead kick against Ethan Ampadu which led to Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s spot-kick equaliser, drew heavy criticism from pundits. Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher blasted Tel for his “crazy” decision despite appearing to see his opponents before committing the clearance.
He said on Monday Night Football: “It’s just a crazy decision from Tel. What you think sometimes is we’ve been there sometimes as players where you don’t see the opposition player coming in. But he’s about to make his decision and he sees him, he looks. So he’s made his decision but as soon as he knows there’s someone there, it has to change.
“He still has time, he’s got to change his mind. I thought he hadn’t seen him initially, but he has. It’s a really, really poor decision. We’re talking about a young attacking player, making two ridiculous decisions in this game.”
Contrary to many speculations, De Zerbi chose to defend his young striker. When asked how he would handle Tel’s error, he said: “Nothing. He’s young, he’s a talent, I will kiss him and I will hug him and stop because he doesn’t need too many words. He was sorry for the… not mistake, because it’s not a mistake, but it can happen for a young player to make that mistake in that situation.”
