Ange Postecoglou has hailed Tottenham’s bravery at Arsenal, but expressed bemusement at the handball rule, joking “armless defenders” may be required in the future after Cristian Romero conceded a ludicrously harsh penalty in the 2-2 draw.
Spurs grabbed a share of the north London derby spoils after captain Son Heung-min struck either side of halftime.
But it might have been an even better result for the Australian, who’s still unbeaten in the Premier League, if Romero hadn’t been penalised for handball in the box in the 54th minute after he blocked Ben White’s shot from close proximity, allowing Bukayo Saka to roll home the resultant penalty.
Spurs did equalise immediately afterwards when Son netted his 150th Spurs goal but Postecoglou was still bemused afterwards about the award of the penalty, likening it to the equally unfair handball given against Wolves’ Joao Gomes at Luton on Saturday.
“I’ve got no idea about the handball rule,” he shrugged. “I really don’t. I saw the one yesterday at Wolves and it just seems if it hits your hand it’s a penalty and then other times if it hits your hand, it isn’t a penalty.
“I’ve got no idea. It is the one rule in the game I just don’t understand.
“Unless we start developing armless defenders, I don’t know how you are supposed to block things and be in a natural position.
“It is what it is. You kind of hope these things even themselves out over the course of a year but I don’t understand the rule. Any clarity would be good because I have got no idea.”
But Postecoglou was delighted by the performance of his side. “You can get a result here, a draw, and you can walk away feeling ‘you know what, we escaped’ – but I don’t have that feeling now.
“I think we went toe-to-toe with a top team and at times we really asserted our dominance on the game. At times, they did but that’s what happens when you face top sides.
“Even if we had lost today, and I don’t like losing, but for me to keep pushing these guys, they need to feel that out there that what we talk about and work on, they can see it come to fruition and when it does against a top team, being brave with our approach, that’s the key thing. I’m pleased.”
Meanwhile, Mauricio Pochettino listened to the boos ring out at Stamford Bridge after his Chelsea side slumped to another disappointing loss in the Premier League.
Chelsea’s 1-0 home loss to Aston Villa came as Liverpool took advantage of the draw to move second outright with their 3-1 win over West Ham while Newcastle ended the day by equalling their biggest Premier League win with an 8-0 rout of Sheffield United.
It was also a big day for Brighton, who came from behind to beat Bournemouth 3-1 thanks to two goals from substitute Kaoru Mitoma.
The high-flying Seagulls are now third on 15 points, one behind Liverpool, three adrift of Man City but a point clear of both Spurs and Arsenal.
Pochettino now has just one win and three losses to show for his first six games in charge of the ailing Blues, the latest defeat coming after Chelsea’s Malo Gusto was sent off in the 58th minute and Villa forward Ollie Watkins scored the winner in the 73rd.
Chelsea have now scored just five goals in six league games. “I am not frustrated, just disappointed,” Pochettino said. “The only thing we are missing is scoring. If we keep working hard we will change.”
Gusto was sent off for a challenge on Lucas Digne that was upgraded from a yellow card to a red after a VAR review, and Villa took advantage when Watkins made them pay.
At Bramall Lane, Sheffield United put on a poignant tribute before kickoff for Maddy Cusack, their women’s player who died in the week at the age of 27.
Newcastle went on to earn their biggest away league win ever and equalled an 8-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday in September 1999 when Bobby Robson was the manager.
The goals, remarkably, came from eight different players, with Sean Longstaff, Dan Burn, Sven Botman, Callum Wilson, Anthony Gordon, Miguel Almiron, Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak all finding the net.
At Anfield, it appeared that Darwin Nunez has finally settled in well as Liverpool’s No. 9.
Nunez began the season coming off the bench but looks undroppable after netting his fourth goal of the campaign to put Liverpool ahead 2-1 in the second half.
Jurgen Klopp’s side have won five successive Premier League games after drawing at Chelsea on the opening weekend, to now sit two points behind defending champion Manchester City.
Nunez netted with a 60th-minute volley after Jarrod Bowen’s diving header in the first half had cancelled out Mohamed Salah’s penalty.
Brighton took their goal tally to a league-best 18. The Seagulls trailed to Dominic Solanke’s first-half goal for Bournemouth but levelled through an own-goal by Milos Kerkez.
Mitoma then netted a double after coming on as a substitute to leave Bournemouth still winless.
© AAP
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