Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has offered his expert opinion on the controversial penalty call that Spurs benefitted from against Brighton, with some exclusive comments to CaughtOffside…
Halsey, who officiated in the Premier League for 14 years after vast experience in the Football League, believes that Jose Mourinho’s side were ‘lucky’ to be awarded a spot-kick.
In just the 11th minute of the encounter, referee Graham Scott pointed to the spot after Kane and Adam Lallana duelled for a loose ball. VAR confirmed the ruling and Kane fired Spurs into the lead.
Halsey actually believes that Kane ‘fouled’ former Liverpool star Lallana in the incident, as the England captain looked over and was completely aware of the midfielder’s position as he backed into the ace.
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Here's another crap decision. Lallana is in flight with eyes on the ball. Kane checks his position, goes underneath him and goes to ground on contact. If anything, he's endangered the BHA player. The games gone mad! pic.twitter.com/C5j1da3srN
— Jonathon Hill (@Jonny5Hill) November 1, 2020
Pictures from Astro Super Sport.
Here’s what the experienced former referee had to say on the penalty call:
“I thought Spurs were lucky to get a penalty, I thought that Kane had fouled Adam Lallana, he knew he was there, he started backing in, arched his back and Lallana went over the top.”
“I thought Brighton were unlucky there. Harry Kane seems to do that quite a lot. In the second half I thought he was very lucky to escape a caution for simulation by trying to claim another penalty.”
Halsey also added that Kane was very fortunate to avoid a ‘caution’ in his attempts to win another penalty in the second-half.
Lallana, who has dealt with constant injury troubles over the last few years, was actually very lucky to walk away from the incident unscathed after a nasty fall.
For more in-depth outlooks from Halsey, keep an eye on our feed and the 59-year-old’s Twitter account.