Roberto De Zerbi said referee Jared Gillett was “not calm” during Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with Leeds United and believes match officials were under pressure following a VAR altercation at West Ham.
Spurs squandered a chance to drop four points on 18th-placed West Ham after Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s penalty canceled out Mathis Tell’s fine opener at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Leeds were awarded a penalty after VAR advised Gillette to look at the monitor to examine Tell’s high boots while attempting to clear the ball from an overhead kick, which hit Ethan Ampadu on the head.
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WATCH FREE: Highlights of Spurs vs Leeds match in Premier League.
After a lengthy on-field inspection, Gillett overturned his initial decision and awarded a penalty to Leeds.
Tottenham appealed for a penalty kick in the 103rd minute of the first half when James Maddison detected contact with Lucas Nmecha, but VAR confirmed the incident and ruled out a no penalty following Gillette’s on-field decision.
The controversy surrounding the match’s officiating occurred just 24 hours after West Ham were denied a second-half equalizer in their match against Arsenal after striker Pablo fouled David Raya.
Asked about the officials’ decision-making during the game, De Zervi said: “I think they were not calm today. Maybe they were under pressure because of the Arsenal game yesterday.”
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Dominic Calvert-Lewin converted a penalty awarded by VAR to draw Leeds level against Spurs in the Premier League.
“Obviously we were under pressure today. We didn’t play with passion on the ball, we were too hectic and the referee wasn’t calm today.
“I don’t understand the argument about VAR yesterday, because it was a 200% foul, not 100%, 200%.”
Carra: De Zerbi will be furious at Tel. But we’ll have to keep an eye on him.
Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher feels De Zerbi will not cause any irritation to the young forward due to the attacking ability he has already shown to the new manager. This could be crucial in their fight for survival.
Tell was at the center of Spurs’ good play in the first half against Leeds, scoring a stunning opener after half-time and ending a penalty nightmare.
Commenting on the penalty, Carragher said: “It was just a crazy decision from Tell. I think at times we had players not seeing their opponents coming in.”
“But he’s about to make a decision and you look at him, you see him, so he makes a decision, but as soon as he knows there’s someone there, it has to change.
“He still has time and he has to change his mind. At first I thought I didn’t see him, but he did. It’s a really, really bad decision.
“We’re talking about a young forward who makes two ridiculous decisions in this game.
“De Zerbi will be furious, but he must remember that he is actually a young striker who has made a huge difference to Spurs at the moment.
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Tel went on to scream to put Spurs ahead against Leeds in the Premier League.
“He came off the bench for Wolves, took the corner and scored the winning goal. He set up his second goal for Villa and he scored tonight.
“He needs him, there are no players injured but the players are there and we have seen that in the last few games.
“It could be crazy, but the good thing about the other side is that everything we showed in the first half was good from Tottenham, and in the second half he scored a goal.”
“That is the art of management and De Zerbi knows it much better than I do.”
