Tottenham Hotspur’s recent run of good form came to an end as they fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat against Manchester City at home.
Despite showing greater attacking intent in the second half, Erling Haaland’s early goal proved to be the match-winner, as Spurs failed to convert their chances.
The result saw Tottenham slip to 13th in the Premier League, deepening their struggles in the bottom half of the table.
“It’s MY fault Salah and De Bruyne left Chelsea…” – which Blues legend made this HUGE admission?
However, a big talking point from the game came after the final whistle, when captain Heung-min Son was involved in a heated exchange with referee Jarred Gillett—an incident that could potentially be reviewed by the FA, as he was lucky to escape immediate disciplinary action following the heated interaction.
The incident came from a dramatic moment in stoppage time when Haaland thought he had doubled City’s lead, only for VAR to rule the goal out for handball after an extensive review. The prolonged delay. Once the referee blew the final whistle, several Spurs players, including Son, confronted Gillett in protest.
It remains unclear what the Tottenham players were complaining about, given that the disallowed goal ultimately benefited Spurs. However, it is possible they expected more added time due to the lengthy VAR review.
Ex-PGMOL chief says Tottenham star could be reported to the FA
Hackett defended Gillett’s handling of stoppage time, emphasising that referees have full authority over timekeeping. He questioned the need for such strong protests from Son, especially given that the disallowed goal ultimately benefited Tottenham.
He further suggested that Gillett coould include the incident in his match report, which could lead to further scrutiny from the FA.
Speaking to Tottenham News, Hackett said:
“Jarred Gillet has delivered two very good performances in recent days. His movement and maintaining contact with play throughout was excellent and his decision-making was made with confidence.
“His judgement about that handball and disallowed goal was perhaps the only point that I would make any comment about. He decided that a handball had taken place and ruled out a Man City goal.
“The Spurs players should look at themselves and I hope that the referee will include in his report the behaviour of Son, who was rather fortunate to escape a sanction for his clear and sustained protest.
“Did Son not see that a goal by Manchester City had been ruled out by Gillet?
“If he was protesting about the amount of time added on he should read Law 5. It states that the referee is the sole timekeeper.
“I feel Son was clutching at straws in this one.
“I would have liked Gillet to have shown him a yellow card in order for him to re-assert his authority.”
Spurs rue missed chances
While Tottenham might feel aggrieved over the final moments, their inability to capitalise on key opportunities ultimately decided the result.
Pape Matar Sarr had the golden chance to equalise in stoppage time but he headed his effort over the bar from point blank range. Similarly, the returning WIlson Odobert missed a chance to score ten minutes into the second half.
Whether the referee reports Son to the FA remains to be seen. If he is reported, there is a chance he could be fined by the governing authority.
He’s one of the worst refs every twice got in road of a pass same every game he’s useless looks lost hasn’t a clue no back bone over var he bends the knee instead of sticking to his choice like most refs these days a typical nonce let’s get back to how football used to be n be happy again right now no fan can say they like var n how refs r little gimps that look lost linesmen r just as bad a bad injury like van dykes needs to happen again for change to happen just like spurs fans with levy to scared they will miss someting but only way for change is boycotting football same as boycotting Will get levy out
Impossible to follow your drift with no punctuation.
What hate fueled nonsense is this? Even your VAR point is wrong, he called handball and disallowed the goal in the first place, then there was confusion with VAR, as they were probably saying no justification to stop the goal from standing. which there wasn’t. 2 Spurs players handballed it probably more than Haaland so could even have been a penalty.
We played ok in the first 10 minutes and for most of the second half, but apart from a couple of balls into the box we were not threatening their goal at all.
Also, you should probably learn what the word nonce means as just throwing it around lessens it’s impact when it is true. I imagine you do the same with “woke” when you don’t understand something.
Presumably the complaint was because when Haaland puts the ball into the net the ref immediately called the handball. Tottenham looked to restart quickly. City players were at this point not in defencive positions and three City players ignored the ref and went to celebrate on their own. The ref then stopped play for the VAR and when that was complete city were able to get everyone back in position for the restart. 4 minutes stoppage time was surprisingly low given all the subs and a number of “injuries” albeit not requiring the trainer, but when Tottenham nearly scored the ref decided he couldn’t risk playing more stoppage time and whistled. VAR supported the ref as opposed to “stepping in” to help Tottenham and confirming the ref didn’t make an error is hardly some sort of favour to be grateful for. Stopping everything for several minutes to see if the on field decision could be changed and letting City get back in position favoured City. At the end of the day though – the first half was abject in terms of effort, competence and attacking intent and that is on the team.