Premier League

Tottenham Hotspur: Referee David Coote and VAR make questionable call over Harry Kane penalty shout

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Image for Tottenham Hotspur: Referee David Coote and VAR make questionable call over Harry Kane penalty shout

Referee David Coote and VAR may have made a key mistake in not awarding Tottenham Hotspur a penalty as Harry Kane looked to be fouled in the club’s recent game. 

Spurs were back in Premier League action on Boxing Day after the long break for the World Cup but failed to pick up all three points in a tricky away game.

Indeed, hosts Brentford managed to take a two-goal lead before Tottenham fought back thanks to goals from Kane and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, which saw the match end in a 2-2 draw.

However, things could have been different had the England captain been awarded a penalty when Ben Mee seemed to drag him down inside the Bees’ penalty box.

Footage of the incident shows an arm was clearly around Kane’s waist, preventing him from attacking the ball, but referee Coote ignored the appeals, while VAR opted not to intervene.

Harry Kane no penalty

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Evidently, the referee didn’t feel as if there was enough in it to award a penalty and VAR must have decided that it wasn’t a clear and obvious error, so they stuck with the on-field decision.

Had the spot-kick been given, however, it could have changed things massively for Spurs. Indeed, this challenge happened around the 50-minute mark, and Brentford doubled their lead only moments later as Ivan Toney netted in the 54th minute.

In the end, Tottenham did manage to fight back to pick up a point, but they may well feel as though they were robbed of a key opportunity to level the scores at a much earlier point and go on to pick up all three points, which they almost did regardless through a Kane header that hit the bar at 2-2.

Do you think it should have been a penalty?

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