It was an incredible 16th loss in 30 Premier League matches this season for Tottenham, but the damage of the 0-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge could be far-reaching for the North London club and their boss Ange Postecoglou.
What happened?
In the 64th minute, Chelsea had taken the lead just after half time thanks to Enzo Fernandez, and Postecoglou decided to make a couple of changes. One of those was to bring on Pape Sarr for Lucas Bergvall and it seemingly didn’t go well with the Spurs fans in the away end. The fans serenaded their Australian coach with a chant of “You don’t know what you’re doing”.
In the 69th minute, Sarr wins the ball from Moises Caicedo in the midfield and fired in a long-range effort on goal that squirmed past Chelsea’s erratic gloveman Robert Sanchez. Spurs began celebrating but immediately the Chelsea players surrounded the referee Craig Pawson, pointing to a possible foul on Caicedo. In the meantime, Postecoglou appeared to face the Spurs fans and cup his hand to his ear. His feeling of vindication was (relatively) short-lived as the goal was disallowed for Sarr’s foul in the buildup, with video assistant referee Jarred Gilletta advising Craig Pawson to check on the monitor, although it took considerable time to reach a decision. Pawson was also looking at the serious nature of the foul and gave it a yellow card in the end. It contributed to the second half having 12 minutes of stoppage time at Stamford Bridge.
What was the reaction?
First things first, Postecoglou expressed his frustration at VAR after the match. “Look, it’s killing the game. “It’s not the same game it used to be. You just don’t know what you’re going to get. You’re standing around for 12 minutes. It’s killing the game. But no one cares about that. I think everyone loves the drama, the controversy. I’m sure there’ll be 24 hours of discussion around it, I think that’s what everyone wants. It’s killing the spectacle of the game. If the ref saw that and needed to see that for six minutes, tell me what’s clear and obvious about it.”
Regarding his cupping-the-ear moment, the Aussie dismissed suggestion that he was goading the fans. “I wanted them to be happy, mate. We’d just scored a cracking goal. I wanted them to cheer because they hadn’t had a lot to cheer about. My subs have been booed, it’s not the first time. They are allowed to boo. But I wanted them to cheer because it was a cracking goal.”
(With inputs from Reuters)