Tottenham Hotspur rightfully played against all 11 men on Sunday after they were awarded a penalty as a result of Steve Cook’s handball this weekend.
This has been suggested by former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher, who has been speaking on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch segment.
Antonio Conte’s men earned all three points on Sunday against Nottingham Forest with a 2-0 victory at the City Ground, but there was a contentious decision which is still being debated.
And that was the penalty awarded to the north Londoners after Cook slapped Ivan Perisic’s cross away from the head of Harry Kane who was waiting to nod in from close range.
However, after a VAR review, Stuart Attwell decided Craig Pawson did not need to increase his initial yellow card to a red – a decision which Gallagher has shared his approval of.
He said: “I think it’s certainly a penalty. I think it’s certainly handball. You see here, he punches the ball – whether he doesn’t know where Kane is.
“But because the ball is so high, it’s felt that Kane isn’t in a position to be certain he’d head that ball into the net. So therefore they gave a yellow card instead of a red card and I think that’s a fair shout.”
TIF Thoughts on Gallagher’s comments…
We find it incredibly difficult to agree with Gallagher on this one. The notion of the ball not being at a height from Kane to head home is still up for debate.
Should Cook have been shown a red card?
Yes
No
But that aside, Cook is not to know whether Kane is able to get his head on the ball, with the Forest defender facing in the other direction to the England captain.
As Stephen Warnock suggested during the segment, Cook’s intention is to prevent the Spurs striker from being able to score and we think that is how the decision should have been judged.