Thomas Frank cut a furious figure on the touchline of Tottenham Hotspur's away encounter with West Ham United after Cristian Romero's headed goal in the 19th minute. Why referee Jarred Gillett chalked the goal off has now been revealed by the Premier League but the injured James Maddison has made his feelings known regarding the decision.
Spurs thought they had taken the lead after Mohammed Kudus' corner kick was headed past Mads Hermansen amid chaos in the six-yard box. Almost instantly, referee Jarred Gillett ruled the goal out for a foul on West Ham defender Kyle Walker-Peters, courtesy of an apparent push by Micky van de Ven in the melee of bodies.
Unsure whether his initial judgement call was correct or not, Gillett relied on a second look from VAR (Video Assistant Referee). After closer inspection by those at Stockley Park, the VAR upheld the man in the middle's decision, and the score remained 0-0, much to the disbelief of those associated with the north Londoners – and that includes Maddison.
James Maddison Fumes at 'Shocker' Decision to Rule Out Romero Goal
romero goal
Gillett, after making the decision, stood face-to-face with a swarm of white shirts, led by the goalscoring Romero, who were trying to understand why the goal didn't count – but now, minutes after the goal was chalked off, the Premier League Match Centre have taken to X (formerly Twitter) to provide their reasoning. Insisting that Tottenham's van de Ven applied enough force on Walker-Peters' back to impact the latter's ability to meet Kudus' teasing delivery into the danger zone, they wrote:
"The referee's call of no goal was checked and confirmed by VAR - with it deemed that van de Ven pushed Walker-Peters in the back and impacted his ability to play the ball."
When you re-visit the footage, which has been posted by Sky Sports as you can see below, you can clearly see that Van de Ven made little to no contact with the Englishman, who had his arms wrapped around Romero. Instead, West Ham summer recruit Mateus Fernandes is impeding Van de Ven, as is Hermansen. You can fully understand why Frank, who replaced Ange Postecoglou, was so upset with the decision.
As mentioned, it's fair to say that Maddison – who is absent from Frank's plans after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in pre-season – is not best pleased with the decision. Angered, he wrote that referees will be 'blowing for something' every time a corner kick is delivered if referees continue to be so whistle-happy.
"Honestly the referees & VAR have had an absolute shocker of a start to the season. If that goal is disallowed for a foul you will never ever see a corner be taken without referee blowing for something ever again."
Whether it dampens the visitor's chances of getting all three points, especially after losing 1-0 to Bournemouth before the international break, remains to be seen – but, on reflection, Maddison, Frank and those of a Spurs persuasion have every right to feel aggrieved after a perfecly legal goal was disallowed.