Ange Postecoglou is a bit cheeky about the role of VAR in the 4-2 defeat to Brighton.
Tottenham fell behind to an early goal from Jack Hinshelwood before the Seagulls went 2-0 up from the penalty spot.
It was scored when Dejan Kulusevski prevented Danny Welbeck from pulling the trigger by pulling his shirt and falling over in the box.
After a lengthy VAR review, Joao Pedro stepped up and made it 2-0 to Brighton. The Spurs boss was not too happy with the decision.
Asked about the first penalty, Postecoglou replied.
“It was obviously clear and obvious because it only took him three minutes to see it on the screen and VAR picked up everything today except the one tackle which nearly cost me another player.
“So that’s their decisions.”
If Kulusevski had done worse, Postecoglou would have lost another star player in an already diluted team.
The Australian boss was once again forced to field a defensive line consisting of four natural defenders after star player Cristian Romero suffered a hamstring injury.
Postecoglou expects Romero to miss “probably four or five weeks”, further compounding Tottenham’s well-documented injury problems in the squad.
With Romero injured, Postecoglou is left without another first-team member, as Micky van de Ven, James Maddison, Ryan Sessegnon, Ivan Perisic and Rodrigo Bentancur are still out through injury, while Yves Bissouma is suspended after his red card against Nottingham Forest.
Although Van de Ven and Maddison could return in January, this is unlikely to prevent Postecoglou from looking for reinforcements in the transfer window to complete his weakened squad.
Pervis Estupinan scored an outstanding long-range shot to make it 3-0 to Brighton, before Pedro converted another penalty to make it 4-0.
Spurs showed signs of fight in the closing stages when Alejo Veliz and Ben Davies scored, but it was a match that belonged to Brighton and Robert De Zerbi.
The result means Spurs missed the chance to get back into the top four, while De Zerbi’s charges moved up to eighth.