The officials and VAR once again became the main talking point during Tottenham vs Leeds United in north London, with the visitors appearing to be denied a penalty.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin should have had a penalty when Tottenham defender Destiny Udogie pulled him down, and VAR ignored precedent to rule the Leeds striker offside.
However, VAR finally intervened again later in the game when the on-field referee missed a high boot on Leeds captain Ethan Ampadu, which was corrected, and Leeds were awarded a penalty.
Calvert-Lewin stepped up to fire in the equaliser, and the Whites finally got the rub of the green in terms of a VAR intervention in favour of them.
Premier League confirm VAR decision in Tottenham vs Leeds clash
Jarred Gillett made a clear mistake when he failed to award a penalty for Mathys Tel’s high boot on Leeds captain Ethan Ampadu in the 69th minute.
VAR forced the on-field referee to come to the monitor, and he had to change the decision as it was clear that Leeds deserved a penalty for the foul.
The Premier League issued a statement explaining the decision and indicated that the right call was eventually made after the intervention of technology
A Premier League statement on X read: “After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of no penalty to Leeds.
“Referee announcement: ‘After review, Tottenham number 11 commits a foul on the Leeds attacker. The final decision is penalty kick’.”
The Whites should have been awarded another penalty
Tottenham defender Destiny Udogie clearly pulled Calvert-Lewin down and was only saved by an offside call by the tiniest of margins.
However, VAR ignored a ‘tolerance rule’, which they applied earlier in the season when a Florian Wirtz goal against Fulham was allowed to stay despite him being ruled offside by a small margin.
The Premier League’s KMI panel agreed with the VAR call on that day. But the same rule was not applied in favour of Calvert-Lewin earlier today.
Even Gillett missed a clear offence on Ampadu and VAR had to intervene to ensure that Leeds were justly awarded a penalty.
It would be disallowed anyway