James Maddison has insisted he and his Tottenham side should have been awarded a late penalty when he went to ground under a challenge in the dying moments of Spurs’ draw with Leeds on Monday as he shared a new angle of the incident.
The midfielder made his first appearance of the season in the game as a second-half substitute after missing nearly a year of action with an ACL injury.
He injected new life into a Spurs side that was somewhat hanging on in the game, which saw them move two points clear of West Ham in the fight for survival in the Premier League.
Many thought Maddison had won his side a spot kick in the final few moments of the game when he was tripped by Lukas Nmecha, but referee Jarred Gillett waved play on. After a brief VAR check, the on-field decision stood, with the view that the Leeds man had got a touch on the ball.
Maddison, however, insists the decision was wrong. Taking to Instagram on Tuesday night, he wrote: ‘For clarity… the small tiny touch on the ball to change direction came from the outside of my right foot not Nmecha and I told the ref that but the check was over in about 20 seconds.’
Craig Pawson was the VAR official for the game, and cleared the check swiftly without sending Gillett for another look.
James Maddison has insisted he should have been awarded a penalty against Leeds
The midfielder hit the deck but it was viewed that Leeds’ Lukas Nmecha got a touch on the ball
Gillett had missed a call for a Leeds penalty earlier in the game, with Mathys Tel kicking Ethan Ampadu in the head while attempting a clearance in his own box.
Eventually, that decision was checked, and overturned. Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored the resulting penalty.
‘Officials are petrified to make decisions on pitch now because of VAR,’ Maddison continued. ‘We keep fighting. COYS.’
Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi had also been critical of the officials following the full-time whistle. The game was a little over 24 hours after rivals Arsenal had been saved by VAR against West Ham.
He said: ‘I think they were not calm today, maybe they suffered the pressure of yesterday’s Arsenal game.
‘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.’
