The refereeing calls made during Leeds United’s 1-1 draw against Tottenham in the capital on Monday night have continued to dominate the headlines.
Leeds equalised via a penalty when Mathys Tel fouled Ethan Ampadu with a high boot. However, it needed VAR intervention for the referee to make an obvious decision inside the penalty box.
However, the referee, Jarred Gillett, and VAR’s decision to ignore Tottenham’s calls for a penalty late in injury time after Lukas Nmecha’s challenge on James Maddison have riled up the Spurs supporters.
Jamie O’Hara has moaned about the referee and the VAR getting it wrong, and now Maddison has made an astonishing claim about the incident after the game
James Maddison insists he touched the ball, and not Nmecha
It appeared that the Leeds striker was saved due to a slight touch on the ball, which prevented the referee and the VAR from claiming it as a foul inside the box.
However, Maddison has insisted that the slight touch on the ball that changed its direction was from the outside of his left foot, not Nmecha getting to the ball.
He stressed that he told the referee the same, but feels on-field officials are terrified of making a judgment call because of VAR.
Maddison wrote on his Instagram account: “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. Officials are petrified to make decisions on the pitch now because of VAR.
“We keep fighting. COYS.”
The Whites should have had a second penalty
Destiny Udogie looked to have clearly brought down Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but Tottenham avoided conceding a penalty because the Leeds forward was ruled marginally offside in the build-up.
The frustration came from the fact that VAR did not appear to apply the same “tolerance rule” that benefited Florian Wirtz earlier this season, when his goal against Fulham was allowed to stand despite an extremely tight offside call.
The Premier League’s KMI panel supported that decision at the time, but a similar interpretation was not used in Calvert-Lewin’s case.
Referee Jarred Gillett also failed to spot a clear foul on Ethan Ampadu during the match, with VAR eventually intervening to award Leeds the penalty.
