Sunday's North London Derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was paused just minutes into the game with Gary Neville left furious at the lengthy delay to the game
North London Derby
The North London Derby was paused on Sunday
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Image: Getty Images)
Gary Neville slammed the decision to bring Sunday's North London Derby to a halt due to an issue with the officials' .
The match was paused by referee Peter Bankes after just seven minutes following an electric start. The delay saw the atmosphere fall flat, supporters left somewhat in the dark.
left far from happy and shared his disgust on commentary. He said: "This is ridiculous, the whole game cannot stop just because of an IT issue - this is an absolute nonsense, one of the most important games of the season and the players all now have to reset.
"This is an absolute nonsense. One of the most important games of the season, fantastic start to it, really quick. And we're now two or three minutes stopped, players having to sort of re-warm up again, reset. Absolute shambles.
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"They haven't got the common sense or the authority, leadership, to go, 'come on, let's read the room here.' There's 62,000 people in this stadium, there's millions watching at home and do they really think it's that important that they can't find some form of communication with the linesman over on the far side? Put your flag up if you're going to make a decision or you want to speak to him."
Despite Neville being left fuming, fellow pundit Clinton Morrison suggested the pause actually helped Spurs, who were under pressure in the opening stages.
Speaking on Radio 5 Live, he said: "This is doing a massive favour as Arsenal are on top. Igor Tudor can have a word with some of his players."
Peter Bankes
The match was brought to an end for seven minutes
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Image:
Getty Images)
The game eventually got back underway after a seven-minute delay. were in dire need of a victory heading into the game, having been held by in midweek, with then cutting their lead at the top of the table to just two points with their victory against .
Meanwhile, Spurs' need for a win was also just as high, with the North London side having been dragged into a battle to avoid relegation from the .
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