“I don’t understand football sometimes,” Brighton captain Lewis Dunk admitted after playing in a 2-1 defeat against Tottenham on Saturday.
The Seagulls dominated the ball and both boxes yet somehow left empty-handed from the trip to north London. Dunk wasn’t far off when he sighed: “They created two chances and scored two goals.”
Brighton have made a habit of railing against the injustice of the footballing gods but a worrying pattern of refereeing fallibilities is beginning to dog the club’s recent matches. Less than two months after the video assistant referee (VAR) incorrectly ruled out a potential winner against bitter rivals Crystal Palace, the officials were under scrutiny again for their role in the club’s loss to Tottenham.
Here’s an in-depth look at the multiple incidents which left the Seagulls spitting feathers on Saturday.
Handball given…
What were your thoughts on this against Kaoru Mitoma?#MOTD #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/87b5ItzZat
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) April 8, 2023
Son Heung-min fired Spurs into a 1-0 lead very much against the run of play seven minutes before Brighton thought they had levelled. Alexis Mac Allister clipped a delicate pass forward which Kaoru Mitoma held off Cristian Romero to bring down, stuffing a vicious shot past Hugo Lloris before the ball had even touched the ground.
However, Brighton’s celebrations were swiftly cut short as assistant referee Darren Cann immediately ruled the goal out, pointing to his left arm. Mitoma had not controlled the ball with the top of his chest as he claimed but Mac Allister’s pass did appear to strike the badge on his shirt sleeve.
The FA laws of the game include a diagram to explain where the arm ends and the body begins. The description states that ‘the upper boundary of the arm is in line with the bottom of the armpit’. Ultimately, it is up to the discretion of the officials whether or not the ball struck Mitoma above or below the bottom of his armpit. This was just the first of a number of narrow decisions which did not fall Brighton’s way.
Brighton have had two goals ruled out by VAR for handball this afternoon! ❌ pic.twitter.com/19GabAWZez
— 90min (@90min_Football) April 8, 2023
Brighton eventually equalised through Dunk, thundering a legal header beyond Lloris on his 200th Premier League appearance in the first half. Welbeck had the ball in the back of the net within ten minutes of the restart before VAR intervened.
Weaving onto his left foot, Welbeck let rip from the top of the box with an effort which took a wicked deflection off Mac Allister. After several replays, the VAR official – Michael Salisbury – judged the ball to have struck Mac Allister’s hand before squirming under Lloris.
Closer inspection clouds that assessment – some views show the ball bouncing off Mac Allister’s hip – but if it did indeed strike the World Cup winner’s hand, the goal was rightly chalked off as Law 12 states that an offence is deemed to be a handball if a player ‘scores in the opponents’ goal directly from their hand/arm, even if accidental’.
Referee Stuart Attwell flagged another handball against Mitoma outside the box shortly after disallowing Welbeck’s goal which seemed to tip Brighton’s manager Roberto De Zerbi over the edge. For the second time this season, the Italian coach was dismissed from the touchline as he let his temper boil over in a heated exchange with Tottenham‘s coaching staff that began before kick off.
Some tea cups may have bitten the dust as De Zerbi watched arguably the biggest injustice of the afternoon from the dressing room. Less than an hour after he was denied a goal, Mitoma had a penalty unjustly taken away from him.
The nimble winger lured Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg into a clumsy challenge at the top of the box which sent him tumbling. Yet, Attwell’s whistle was not forthcoming, leaving Mitoma sitting on the turf in bemusement. Hojbjerg clearly trod on the Japan international and the PGMOL have reportedly acknowledged the incorrect decision with an apology to Brighton.
The Seagulls may also be owed another apology from PGMOL boss Howard Webb for the challenge on Dunk in the closing stages.
Hojbjerg took off his cloak of invisibility to burst forward and tee up Harry Kane for the winning goal in the 80th minute. Yet, Brighton may have equalised through their skipper in the dying embers.
Clement Lenglet, not content with one handful of Dunk’s shirt, had both fists clenched around the neon red of Brighton‘s away kit while a late set piece arced into the box. Dunk duly slumped to the turf but yet another call went the wrong way for the Seagulls.
“There’s no point having VAR in the game if you’re not going to make clear decisions like that,” Dunk raged post-game, before reverting to a state of confusion once again. “We want to win the game and that decision changes everything. To be honest, I don’t understand it.”
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