Andy Gray has called for the Premier League to take action after Newcastle United’s equaliser was allowed to stand against Tottenham on Saturday.
Lucas Bergvall’s attempted pass to the right flank was blocked by Joelinton, with replays showing the ball hitting the player’s hand before passing the ball onto Anthony Gordon, who scored.
While the Premier League explained via the PLMatchCentre X account why VAR had not chalked the goal off, the controversial moment caused outrage on social media, and even in the beIN Sports studio.
Speaking live via beIN Sports [4 January, 1:25pm], Richard Keys said: “The definitive on this is – unintentional and didn’t lead directly to a goal. If that drops directly to Joelinton and he scores, handball.”
Gray said: “To me, that’s nonsense. If he hadn’t handballed it, there wouldn’t have been a goal. Handball, one pass later, goal. If you tell me that handball hasn’t led directly to a goal, I’m not having it.”
Keys said: “I would agree with you but I have to accept what the law says,” to which Gray replied: “Please, change the wording because it did lead directly to a goal. But it is still their fault for playing out from the back.”
Tottenham robbed by VAR in Newcastle United defeat?
Following the rules word-for-word, VAR was never going to disallow Gordon’s goal for a handball on Joelinton, but it is easy to understand why there is such outrage from the supporters.
VAR’s intervention seems to be more of a running theme at Hotspur Way in recent weeks but that cannot be used as the only excuse for the poor run of results.
Ange Postecoglou is walking closer and closer to being sacked by Daniel Levy, with Spurs now facing four consecutive matches without a win, in which time they have conceded 11 goals.
With Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, Destiny Udogie, Ben Davies and Guglielmo Vicario all sidelined, expectations should not be as high against difficult opposition.
Because of a lack of reinforcements, Archie Gray and Radu Dragusin have been the trusted centre-back partnership, and with the latter going off at half-time, Djed Spence was pushed into the middle.
In other Tottenham news, Timo Werner was absolutely dreadful in a 3/10 display v Newcastle United.
Felt robbed of a fair reward: Ange Postecoglou. IMAGO/Shutterstock
With just 24 points, sitting 12th in the table, only one win from eight games, and currently four matches without a victory, Hotspur are struggling, and the frustration has grown particularly after the 1-2 defeat against Newcastle United.
“I am so proud of the players and how they performed today,” said coach Ange Postecoglou at the press conference following the match, adding that he simply “loved everything” his team showed on the pitch. “The players faced an enormous challenge and did not look for any excuses. They were aggressive, created chances, and played with energy and enthusiasm. We deserved to win today.”
However, instead of a win, the team faced a defeat – an unjust one, according to Postecoglou. “I am really angry that we did not receive our deserved reward. I am angry and disappointed because it was not football that denied us the result. I know what everyone wants to hear from me, but I will just say that on any other day, on a fair and balanced playing field, we would have won the game.”
The Australian was somewhat cryptic in his criticism and didn’t go into detail initially, but eventually did so when discussing a handball incident, emphasizing that he didn’t care, “whether people agree with me or not, whether they think it was handball or unintentional – whatever the case may be. I am not interested in that discussion.”
Although he didn’t get more specific, it’s clear that the Spurs coach was referring to the buildup of the equalizer at 1-1, which came after a sloppy pass from Pape Sarr that struck Newcastle’s Joelinton. The ball rebounded off his hand to Bruno Guimaraes, who subsequently set up the scorer Anthony Gordon. The VAR reviewed the incident and did not penalize the handball – the goal stood, much to Postecoglou’s dismay.
We started the game very well, and the only thing that stopped us was not football,” he said, also referring to the currently extremely tense personnel situation at Spurs. “We only had eleven fit players in training, but that shouldn’t be an excuse. The players put in an incredible performance, played fantastic football, created chances, and defended strongly. It is unfair that they did not receive their deserved rewards.”
However, Postecoglou seemed to overlook a couple of things. After Joelinton’s alleged handball, there was still a chance to defend and prevent the conceding of a goal. Then there was the small fact that the equalizer came in the 6th minute (!) and they had plenty of time after that. However, the London side did not take advantage of this, but instead conceded the 1-2 just before halftime due to an extremely poor phase. After the restart, Tottenham showed significant improvement but ultimately were simply too harmless in front of goal.
Postecoglou, however, did not delve into this in his analysis and preferred to continue searching for solace in the victim role. “I know the results are missing right now, but I also see so much positive in the team. Still, we need to win games. Normally, you are rewarded when you play well and do things correctly. That was denied to us today.”
