Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou said it was impossible to analyse his team’s 4-1 loss to Chelsea, as his unbeaten streak in the Premier League came to a chaotic and controversial end on Monday.
Despite taking an early lead, Spurs found themselves reduced to nine men after Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie were sent off.
By the end of the match, only four of their starting lineup were on the field.
With five disallowed goals, numerous VAR interventions, a staggering 21 minutes of added time and two injuries to key players, Postecoglou appeared baffled.
His team missed an opportunity to reclaim the top spot in the league.
“It is pretty hard to process. It is hard to analyse the game because it just seemed to get out of control for large parts of it,” Postecoglou told Sky Sports.
Following Dejan Kulusevski’s deflected opening goal for the hosts, Tottenham’s captain Son Heung-min saw his effort disallowed due to a marginal offside after an impressive passing.
The game took a dramatic turn when Moises Caicedo’s equalizer was ruled out for offside after a VAR review.
During the same incident,Cristian Romero was penalized for an over-aggressive tackle on Enzo Fernandez and received a red card.
Cole Palmer successfully converted the penalty after seven minutes of uncertainty, with goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario coming close to stopping it.
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Amid a weekend filled with discussions on the rights and wrongs of VAR, including a rant by Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta Saturday, Postecoglou attempted to make sense of the situation.
“There will be a forensic study of every decision out there, I think that is the way the game is going and I don’t like it,” he said.If you look at all that standing around we did today, maybe people enjoy that sort of thing but I’d rather see us playing football,” the Australian coach said.
“You have to accept the referee’s decision, that is how I grew up, he added.
Despite being reduced to nine men, Tottenham remained committed to Postecoglou’s attacking style.
However, Chelsea took the lead in the 75th minute, and once more, VAR played a role, as Nicolas Jackson seemed to be offside.
Eric Dier, had a disallowed goal due to offside, while Son forced an excellent save from Robert Sanchez.
Eventually, Jackson completed a hat-trick as the hosts went all out in their attack.
The defeat is undoubtedly painful for Spurs but of even greater concern is the impending suspension for Romero and the likely extended absence of his defensive partner, Micky van de Ven, due to a serious-looking hamstring injury.
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Adding to the woes, James Maddison, a key contributor to Tottenham’s outstanding season start, had to leave the pitch with an ankle injury.
