The Athletic’s Michael Cox has claimed that Leeds United were “unfortunate” following the penalty incident in their defeat against Tottenham Hotspur.
During the latest round of Premier League fixtures, Marcelo Bielsa’s side lost 3-0 against Jose Mourinho’s outfit away from home (per BBC).
The scoring was opened in the first half through a Harry Kane spot-kick and a second was added shortly before half-time through Heung-min Son.
Spurs were awarded the penalty after a stray goal-kick from Illan Meslier led to Ezgjan Alioski bringing Steven Bergwijn down in the Whites’ penalty area.
In the latest episode of The Totally Football Show, Cox analysed Leeds’ trip to north London and claimed they were “unfortunate” in the clash. (20:35)
He said: “It probably was a penalty but it was so much Bergwijn winning it rather than the defender doing that much wrong.
“The number of penalties has gone up significantly in the league this year and it does feel like the game has shifted a bit, whether [it is] because [it’s] the VAR era, whether referees are becoming slightly stricter as a result of the VAR era.
“[There are] so many penalties you see now and I just feel a bit sorry for the defender, they almost just have to stand back and let the attackers do their thing.
“Second half the game was dead but I thought Leeds were a little bit unfortunate to be 2-0 down, personally.”
TIF Thoughts on what Michael Cox said about Leeds being “unfortunate”…
As can be seen in what the journalist had to say, despite the fact that he believed it “probably” was a penalty, he still felt sorry for Alioski in the incident.
Do you think the penalty decision was correct?
No, was the wrong call
Yes, it was correct
During the match at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Whites ran Spurs close for chances as the visitors had 18 attempts at goal while Tottenham had 20 (per WhoScored).
Leeds did pass Spurs off the pitch, though, as they made a total of 620 compared to Spurs’ 359. So, perhaps it would be fair to say that the 3-0 scoreline was somewhat unfair on Bielsa’s Whites.