Footage has emerged on Twitter (which was live on Sky Sports) from Tottenham Hotspur’s latest victory which may leave some supporters furious with referee Anthony Taylor.
The video appears to show Michail Antonio leaving a high and late arm in the face of Eric Dier in the first half of the game as the centre-back goes to clear the ball.
Should this have been a red card?
No
Yes
Dier was already sporting a bandage around his forehead after a collision during the week against Brighton & Hove Albion which saw him receive a nasty cut to the head.
Antonio was left frustrated on Sunday afternoon in north London, with Cristian Romero getting the better of the 31-year-old all afternoon.
But Spurs fans may feel hard done by, with Taylor failing to award Dier a free kick for the incident after being left on the ground following the West Ham United striker’s late challenge.
TIF Thoughts on the footage…
Having watched the footage, we are amazed Taylor failed to pick up on Antonio’s actions and award Dier a free kick for what was a reckless challenge. And we are just as surprised not to see Paul Tierney on VAR intervene, with the Jamaican striker leading into the challenge with his arm high to the face of Dier.
The ball has clearly gone and Antonio leads with his elbow to the face of Dier as mentioned above, which could be deemed as serious foul play as there was simply no need.
Interestingly, it seems as if elbows are the kind of thing that seems to get missed or not treated as harshly by officials as Kai Havertz and Sadio Mane have both gone without a red for similar incidents in the past.
Ultimately, Spurs had the last laugh as they left with all three points, however, had the result gone differently, then this may have been an incident receiving more focus.
In other news: Tottenham star who featured on Wednesday seeing physiotherapist in ‘behind-the-scenes’ post