Roberto De Zerbi said referee Jarred Gillett was “not calm” during Tottenham’s 1-1 draw against Leeds United and believes match officials are feeling the pressure after VAR controversy at West Ham.
Spurs squandered the chance to go four points clear of 18th-placed West Ham after Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s penalty cancelled out Mathys Tel’s stunning opener at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Leeds were awarded the penalty after VAR advised Gillett to look at the monitor to review Tel’s high boot while attempting to clear the ball with an overhead kick, which caught Ethan Ampadu in the head.
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Spurs’ match against Leeds in the Premier League.
Following a lengthy on-field check, Gillett overturned his initial decision and awarded a penalty to Leeds.
Spurs then had a penalty appeal of their own in the 103rd minute when James Maddison went down inside the area after feeling contact from Lukas Nmecha, but VAR checked and cleared the incident, sticking with Gillett’s on-field decision of no penalty.
The controversy surrounding match officiating comes just over 24 hours after West Ham had their late equaliser disallowed against Arsenal for a foul on David Raya by striker Pablo inside the area.
When asked about the decision-making from match officials during the game, De Zerbi said: “I think they were not calm today, maybe they suffered the pressure of yesterday’s Arsenal game.
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Dominic Calvert-Lewin converts VAR-awarded penalty to draw Leeds level against Spurs in the Premier League
“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.”
Carra: De Zerbi will be furious with Tel – but must keep him onside
Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher felt De Zerbi would have to park any annoyance with his young forward because of the attacking ability he had already shown the new head coach – which could prove crucial in their survival fight.
Tel was at the heart of much of Spurs’ good play in the first half against Leeds, before scoring a stunning opener after half-time, prior to his penalty nightmare.
On the penalty, Carragher said: “It’s just a crazy decision from Tel. What you think sometimes is we’ve been there 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.
“De Zerbi will be furious – but he’s got to remember he’s a young attacking player who has actually made a massive difference to Spurs right now.
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Tel scores screamer to fire Spurs ahead against Leeds in the Premier League
“He came off the bench at Wolves, got the corner and the winning goal. He set up the second goal at Villa, and he scored the goal tonight.
“He needs him, because they haven’t got players with injuries but there’s a player there. We’ve seen that in the last couple of games.
“You’d be going nuts, but the good at the other end – everything we showed that was good from Spurs in the first half, and then he scored the goal in the second half.
“That’s the art of management, and De Zerbi knows that a lot better than me.”
